Dark Side
by titieli
Summary: Katherine and Cassandra: best friends since 1498. in 1864, they went to Mystic Falls where they met the Salvatore brothers and where Cass fell for a certain blue-eyed Salvatore. now, 145 years later she goes back to the little town, looking for a calm life. but Mystic Falls is full of new secrets and people she thought she'd never see again.
1. Welcome back to Mystic Falls

**_A/N: ok, here's another story. I adore the vampire diaries and I love Damon Salvatore BUT I don't like his relationship with Elena at all. I, personally, believe Elena doesn't deserve either brother but what can I do? i can write a story with a twist: Cassandra Woodhouse. I personally love her and her plot is much thicker than it appears. you'll see. so please, please, please pretty please with a cherry on top read and review. i want to know what you guys think. It'd be nice to know if you hate me for adding someone of if you find it cool._**

**_here's the entire Summary:_**

**Katherine and Cassandra best friends, running around the world together. That is until in 1864 they reached Mystic Falls where they met Damon and Stephan Salvatore. Cassandra soon found herself falling for the older Salvatore, only for him to fall in love with her friend and think of Cassandra as a friend, his best friend. **

**After a series of unfortunate events, both she and Katherine end up faking their deaths and going in the run, again. But after 145 years—and because Emily, her friend and fellow witch wants to—she decides to go back to where it all started. Mystic Falls is still a small town, something she knows vampires hate so she doesn't worry about having to run into any of her kind. Imagine her shock when she finds out Stephan, who 100% believes she's dead, is living in Mystic Falls again and so is Damon the brother who stole her heart. **

******It turns out Mystic Falls is supernatural territory and plenty of vampires are living there. What will happen this time? Will everything end up in terror, just like it did in 1864? Will Damon actually fall for her this time or will he continue to pin over Katherine? Follow Cass as she goes through a lot of trouble in this small town and deals with pain, horror, happiness and danger. You can only run away from your past for so long before it catches up to you and bites you. In some cases, literally.**_  
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**_Chapter 1: Welcome back to Mystic Falls._**

**_1864_**

_Cassandra Woodhouse sat in the moving carriage across from a dark-skinned maid who accompanied her and her friend towards their new temporary home. Sighing as she looked outside the window she addressed said friend._

_"Katherine, what is the exact reason why we are moving here?" she asked politely, although what she really wanted to do was rip Katherine's throat out._

_"You know why." Katherine Pierce said for the fifth time since they had left Atlanta._

_"Oh, that's right. Because you're scared of the big bad wolf." She said back sarcastically. "Or big bad vampire in your case."_

_Katherine looked at her at the same time Cassandra turned her head to glance at her, so their eyes met, Dark brown meeting green with more than just anger._

_"You knew what you were getting yourself into when you decided to follow Me." she said slowly, trying to control her anger towards the younger than her, although not for much, vampire._

_Cassandra clenched her teeth at the comment; it wasn't like Katherine had given her a choice not to follow her, and after 400 years it wasn't like she could go anywhere else. Katherine was her friend and the only person she had, not that she could 100% trust her but she'd have to do. She was mad at her for having to move so often though, Katherine was so terrified of Klaus and his people that every time she believed someone had a clue towards her, she'd run. Cassandra wasn't afraid of Klaus, or his people, because she had a little secret not even Katherine knew about: She and Klaus went way back and he'd never hurt her. The only hybrid in the entire world and she'd like it to stay that way._

_"it's just that I was having so much fun back in New York and then we had to go all the way down to Atlanta for this trip. I'm tired." She whined just like Katherine had taught her to, when she wanted people to understand her bad behavior._

_"Don't worry, we'll stay here longer. I promise." The other girl affirmed just as the carriage went to a halt and stopped in front of a beautiful white two story house._

_Outside the house stood two gentlemen, one looked younger than the other but not by much. Katherine looked at them as the door was opened and she got out, bowing politely at the young man standing before her and giving him her hand for him to kiss._

_Cassandra left the carriage at the same time the man said:_

_"You must be Miss Pierce." _

_She stood to the side, looking around the garden and not really paying attention to the conversation going on next to her. By the way Katherine was looking at him; she knew Katherine wanted him for her. She had gotten herself a new shiny toy._

_"Please, call me Katherine." She said, confirming her suspicion._

_Damon Salvatore stood near his brother as he welcomed the two women who'd stay with them for the year; Damon would wait for Stephan to finish and then he'd welcome them himself as well as introduce himself to them. But by the time being, he'd study them. The girl standing to the side looked incredibly unhappy, which was predictable seeing as though she lost her entire family, but that didn't make her any less beautiful. Her dark red hair was in a complicated up-do and was covered with a white hat, her red lips pursed as curious light green eyes traveled around the garden and for the little skin he could see, she was one of the few lucky redheads without freckles. _

_"Miss Woodhouse." Stephan curtsied, snapping the girl out of her studying and making her look at Damon's little brother._

_"I'm Cassandra, Mr. Salvatore, please do call me that." she said, politely giving Stephan a smile._

_Tearing his eyes away from the girl he looked towards Miss Pierce and decided that even tough Miss Woodhouse was gorgeous, Miss Katherine was by far the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, with her dark brown curly hair and matching eyes, also an olive skin that suggested she had family in Europe. _

_Stepping forward he took Miss Pierce's hand and gave it a kiss as he said: "Miss Katherine, I'm Damon Salvatore, Stephan's older brother."_

_Katherine bowed before the other brother who was as handsome as his brother and as she met his blue eyes, she realized she could have more than just one toy in town. Then Damon moved to the other girl and did the same._

_"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Salvatore." she said._

_"The pleasure's mine but please, call me Damon." He answered, receiving a lovely smile from the girl._

_"Very well, then." She tried as hard as she could not to giggle as she met Damon's eyes._

**_Present time._**

She sighs as she gets out of her car and confidently makes her way over to the school's front door; every time she comes back to Mystic Falls she'd have that flashback. It's like no matter how hard she tries, her brain just doesn't want to forget that year; her heart doesn't want to forget _him_.

Every student turns around to look at her as she walks, something not strange for her. She has that mysterious and dark aura around her that makes people curious; there isn't an ounce of black, except for her eyeliner and mascara, on her. The dark comes from her and not her clothes; she's actually wearing a light pink skirt today. Her long dark red hair is completely straightened and to her left side in a fish-tailed braid, reaching her waist and her green eyes are protected by a pair of sunglasses.

After picking up her schedule in the office, she makes her way to her first class: history. Everyone's already in class, seeing as though it started ten minutes ago, and looks up to see her enter the room. Every boys' stares are fixated in her legs longer than necessary. She gives her access pass to the teacher and smiles politely at him.

"Right, Cassandra Woodhouse, transferred from New York." He says as he reads the card. "Welcome to Mystic Falls, I'm Alaric Saltzman, your history teacher. Take a seat." He directs her to the only available seat, the one right next to one Stephan Salvatore and behind the doppelganger.

Stephan stiffens as he watches her make her way over the seat, her eyes never leaving him, and sit down next to him, a smirk playing in her cherry red lips. None of them truly pay attention to class; they're both looking at the other. Stephan with pure shock written across his features and Cassandra acting like she's enjoying his shock when in reality she's freaking out. Last time she saw Stephan, he was dead, Killed by his own father for trying to help Katherine. She didn't even get the chance to say goodbye, she had waited until they both turned and then she had fled; even though she checked up on them over the years, a habit she got from Katherine, she never showed herself to them. As long as they knew, Cassandra Woodhouse was as good as dead.

The minute the bell rings; she's out of the door and making her way to her locker as fast as she can. It's useless, Stephan can catch up to her in seconds but they're in a school full of ignorant humans, which might give her a few more minutes to run or come up with a plan. She stuffs her books on her bag as fast as humanly possible but it still isn't enough; when she closes her locker door she comes face to face with Stephan and the doppelganger who is standing next to him.

"Stephan, long time no see." She says neutrally.

"What are you doing here?" he asks, ignoring her sentence.

"Well… I started a life here before, why not now?" she asks and then directs her gaze towards the other girl. "It's nice to meet you, Elena."

Elena Gilbert's eyes widen as she stares at the red headed girl in front of her. How is it possible for her to know her? Because she knows Stephan, Elena was kind of expecting her to think she was Katherine. The girl starts to walk past them but Stephan grabs her arm rather forcefully, stopping her in her tracks and, in the process, making Elena jump at his rudeness. It's not like him to treat someone so rudely and she's a little shocked. Especially because it seems like he's actually trying to inflict pain.

"Explain to me why you are here." He growls.

"No, Stephan." She says as she grabs his arm with her other hand, her nails digging into his skin and making blood come out. "Let me explain something to you. I'm not here to make your life miserable; I believe Katherine already did a pretty good damn work about that."

Stephan looks at her surprised and she takes the opportunity to lift his hand from her arm so she can free it.

"And that's why you will continue to live your life with your Katherine look alike and I will live mine." She shrugs and lets go of him, cleaning the blood that stuck to her fingers in Stephan's shirt.

"And if I were you, I'd easy it down on the human blood, don't want you to lose control now do we?" she whispers in his ear low enough for Elena not to hear and steps back.

She had watched Stefan in the past long enough to know that 1) he didn't drink human blood and that 2) when he did; he lost control faster than anyone. And the way he has grabbed her arm suggests he's back on human blood. If he were in bunny diet, he wouldn't have been able to stop her.

"Who is she?" Elena asks once Cassandra had left them.

"Cassandra Woodhouse." Stephan says vaguely, not really wanting Elena to know who that girl really is.

"I gathered that but how do you know her?" She presses the matter.

"She's Katherine's best friend. They were so close, she pretended to be her cousin when they stayed with us back in…" he trails off, knowing Elena knew enough to fill in the space.

"Wait, is she the one who was friends with you and Damon? The one who told Katherine to stop?" Elena asks, surprised over the fact that such a rude girl was the girl Stephan, and even Damon, talked so good about.

"She was more than that, Elena." He sighs. "I've got to tell Damon."

Elena nods and kisses her boyfriend goodbye as he hurriedly leaves the building. Instead of going to class as she should, she goes the other way around towards where Cassandra went.

"Cassandra, wait!" she calls after her, once she finally finds her.

The girl comes to a halt and turns around; lifting an eyebrow towards Elena once she doesn't make a move to walk towards her. What is she waiting for, an invitation? When Elena sees that she won't run, she walks to where she is with a shy smile.

"I didn't think you'd stop." Elena explains once she reaches her.

"Why? As far as I know, if the most popular girl in school is talking to you you've to stop." she jokes.

"You're confusing me with Caroline." Elena jokes back, trying to see how far she can really go with this girl.

"Right, you're second in command now." She laughs and Elena has to blink once.

This girl is completely different from the dark and almost lethal one she saw with Stephan. Her laugh is so angelic; you'd think she was truly an angel not a demon.

"How do you know so much?" Elena asks surprised.

She ponders the question for a minute before saying:

"This school has a very good gossip system."

They fall quiet for a while as they walk towards the vampire's car. Elena tries to find a way to ask the new girl for information without seeming to pushy but comes out empty handed. She wants to befriend her and is afraid that by questioning her she'll hate her.

"What do you want to know?"

"How did you—I don't want—I mean it's not that I don't find your story interesting…" Elena stutters, shock that she had seen right through her.

"Elena, it's fine. I understand, really. I'll tell you someday." she calms Elena. "I'll see you tonight at the founders' day party, ok?"

Elena nods and gives who she hopes is her new friend her phone number and tells her she'll see her there, letting her get into her car and drive away.

Damon Salvatore is sitting lazily in the couch of his house as he thinks of a way to figure out what John Gilbert is planning when his brother enters the room, looking troubled.

"What's got your panties in a twist, little brother?" He teases, not expecting him to answer.

"Cassandra is alive." He goes straight to the point as he stands in front of his brother.

Damon's smirk fades right away. Stephan knows she is a very delicate topic, almost as delicate as Katherine so why the hell is he bringing it up? Worse, lying about it. They had come to the conclusion that Cassandra had been killed by the founding families; they knew she wasn't at the tomb because they didn't see them drag her in but they assumed she had been killed later. Damon, however, always had the hope that she'd be in the tomb with Katherine. That hope was destroyed when he opened the tomb to find it empty of the only people he cared about. No lover and no best friend.

"Don't joke about that, steph." He mock scolds him when in reality he wants to throw him out the window.

"I'm not joking, she was at school today and she knows more than she lets on." Stephan explains as he starts pacing back and forth.

He hardly doubts it but what if she's a risk for Elena? They can't have her going around, pretending to be an angel but turning into a demonic killer when she feels like it. He's so engrossed in his thinking, he almost misses Damon getting up and going to the door.

"Woah, no. where are you going?"

"_We_ are visiting her. If she truly is here."

Less than ten minutes later, the Salvatore brothers are standing in front of a two story house down at Green Street—the house is almost as big as theirs and isn't that far from theirs, either.—from somewhere in the second floor they can hear _turn me on _by David Guetta ft. Nicky Minaj at full blast and someone singing to it. With a glance between them, they both make their way to the window where the music's coming from and jump to it. Landing safely inside, they find her sitting in her dresser and passing a hair straightener through her hair while she sings. Damon doesn't think twice before slamming her to the wall and keeping her there. She blinks up at him with such boredom Stephan might have thought she didn't get hurt by the shoving. The ugly sound her head made against the wall tells otherwise.

"And that is…3 and a half hours" she says as she glances at the clock. "What took you so long?"

That question only gets her to be shoved harder. Well, this is sad. If she was going to be shoved against the wall by the one and only Damon Salvatore, she was kind of hoping it'd be because he was kissing her not trying to hurt her.

"Why are you here?" he hisses at her, trying not to get lost in her green eyes just like he used to when he was human.

Because he isn't human, not anymore and if the human Damon did anything she asked him, the vampire Damon won't. He won't even be nice to her. Right as if on cue, _somebody that I used to know_ starts to play on her stereo.

"God, you Salvatore brothers got to find yourselves a new question." She says, pushing him away and glaring at the stereo, turning it off with her magic. Too much closeness.

"All right, what about what are you doing?" Stephan asks, not realizing she was the one who turned the speakers off.

She walks to her wardrobe and starts to rummage around, trying to find a fitting dress for tonight. Is this party still as fancy as it used to be? Or has this generation ruined it already?

"Well, I'm getting ready for the founders' day party." She says as she grabs a dress and puts it over her body while looking at herself in the mirror. Nop, too slutty.

"What are you two doing?" she asks, turning once again to her wardrobe.

"I came here to find an old friend I thought to be dead only to find she's a real bitch." Damon speaks for the fist time since his stupid question.

She freezes. He's right, so incredibly right it hurts. And the own pain in his voice makes it hurt ten times more, but she doesn't want to go there again. That place where Katherine is all holy and she's just the best friend, she doesn't want to, it hurt her too much and it will hurt again.

The time passes and after what seems like an eternity to both brothers, she finally turns around to face them.

"If you don't want me to be a bitch then don't shove me to a wall and give me a headache." She says, lifting an eyebrow.

"Sorry, dramatic entry." He chuckles and takes a step forward.

"So you've been alive all this time." He continues to walk to where she is, finally daring to meet her gaze.

"Yep." She nods, not moving an inch.

"And yet, you never found Me." the pressure his icy blue eyes are inflicting upon her makes her want to look down, but she's not one to do so. "That makes me think you didn't want to."

Stephan watches the exchange with pure curiosity. Since she had turned to look at Damon, none had addressed him again, it's like he's not even there just like it was back in 1864. When Katherine wasn't present, of course.

"Damon, I didn't know where you were." She lies and takes a step forward. By then, they're only inches apart and she has to look up to be able to meet his eyes.

"And I know you're lying, _Cassie_." The use of such a stupid nickname makes her look down, how many times had she told him not to call her that? 'Do not call me that, Damon, please, or I'll call you Mr. Salvatore.' She'd say with pursed lips and amused eyes.

But there's nothing amusing here and she's not at all surprised when she looks up only to find that Damon isn't in the room anymore. She sighs and glares a Stephan who had decided to stay behind.

"That went well." He says carefully, not really knowing what else to do.

"What part? Where he wanted to kill me or when he got all upset?" she asks sarcastically.

"Damon doesn't get upset." He answers as he sees her start her make up.

"Yes, he does or did. I don't know anymore." She pauses for a moment and looks back at her closet. "Is this thing still fancy?"

"Yeah, tuxedo and everything." He says as he starts to walk to the door, deciding to leave her to it.

"I should not be here." Stephan mutters as he and his brother make their way inside the Lockwood's where the party's being held.

"Come on, it's for the founding families, that's us." Damon answers, looking around and trying as hard as he could to localize a certain red headed girl so he could avoid her.

"It was easier when you hated everyone." Stephan shoots back.

"I still do, but I love that they love Me." he shrugs making both of them chuckle.

"Is all the alcohol making effect on you, or are the cravings still there?" he asks his little brother, teasingly.

"Nothing would make you happier than to see me give in, right Damon?" the younger Salvatore asks, eyes squinting slightly.

"It's inevitable." He shrugs.

"Yeah, but there's nothing a little bit of self-control can't do." a voice reaches them and both turn to the left.

Coming towards them in a beautiful short black dress that reaches her mid-thigh and incredibly high heels is Cassandra and, as much as he hates it, Damon has to admit he's never seen her this beautiful. Not that it matters because she's just someone he used to know.

"So you did come." He says with fake annoyance.

"Of course I did, I'm hanging out with my friends." She shrugs. "Looking good, Stephan." She winks at him.

"And you're beautiful, Cass." He tells her.

She smiles, showing her perfectly straight teeth, knowing it's the truth. Since she had come here, nobody had been able to tear their eyes away from her. Even one or two women had checked her out; although she thinks it's a little over the top. The thick layer of mascara and green eye shadow makes her light green eyes stand out more than normally and, seeing as though she had used a lot of make-up in her eyes, she only has a light pink lip gloss. The combination makes her look sweet and sexy at the same time.

"We're not your friends." Damon tells her harshly, ignoring Stephan's comment.

"I meant Elena and Caroline. My new friends." She snaps, rolling her eyes.

"I'm going to—um, find Elena." Stephan says as he walks away slowly.

"I'll join you; I _do_ know when I'm not wanted." She adds, lifting an eyebrow Damon's way.

He's gonna be a dick, well, she'll be a bitch. It's not the first time she acts like one and neither will it be the last one. Walking towards where she last saw Elena, she notices Stephan stealing a drink but acts like she doesn't notice. If he says he's got it under control, then he does. No need to interfere, not _yet_.

Once they spot her, Stephan gives her a kiss on the cheek right away, making her frown.

"Are you drunk?" she frowns, glancing Cassandra's way.

"I know it's weird but it helps Me." he stutters, suddenly nervous and confirming her suspicions about him not telling Elena about his little problem.

A little problem that she's staring to think it's not so little.

"The alcohol takes the edge off." She jumps in.

"How worried do I have to be?" Elena asks slowly, eyeing Stephan.

"Not at all, it's just until the cravings go away." He nods, taking her hand. "Would you like to dance?"

Elena blinks up at him surprised and takes her hand away from his. "You hate dancing; I always have to beg you."

Cassandra shakes her head, Stephan is definitely screwing up. Drunken Stephan never knows how to behave correctly, never, and he'd usually throw sober-right-behavior Stephan off the window. This far she has two options, one: she steps in and fixes this before he makes a fool of himself or two: she stands and watches as Elena finally discovers Stephan is not really a saint. Yeah, she'll go with second.

"You have to beg sober Stephan, drunken Stephan doesn't need begging." He lifts an eyebrow.

Well, it looks like drunken Stephan is the one who_ does _the begging.

"Steph, no one is dancing." she mutters, finally intervening.

"Yeah, because the music sucks." He glances towards the D.J. and starts to walk away. "Be right back."

"Ok, really how worried should I be?" Elena asks her, once Stephan isn't near.

"From 1 to 10… a 7, maybe 8." She sighs, running a hand through her hair.

"I'll take care of it, ok?"

Elena shakes her head as she watches Stephan compel the man with the music so he changes it.

"How? Don't take it the wrong way but the last time you saw him he was human, they both were and you knew they'd be vampires and yet you simply left. How can I trust you with something like this?"

She fights the red anger from within her because she knows Elena is just worried and maybe even confused, so she won't snap at her. Neither will she recognize that her comment stung more than it should have.

"That was different, Elena." She says.

She's about to continue but Stephan reaches them, offering his hand to Kelly Donovan who stands a few people away from them and Elena is momentarily distracted by the scene.

"Have I entered an alternate universe where Stephan is fun?" Damon asks as he approaches the two girls.

"Don't start, please." Cassandra says, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I just thought because you're a bitch I got to be a dick." He shrugs, making her clench her jaw.

Elena tried as hard as she could not to let out a gasp but was unsuccessful because Cass looks her way only to direct her blazing gaze back to Damon.

"Well, you really are a welcoming guy, aren't you?" she says sarcastically.

"Didn't you say you know when you're not wanted?" he asks, changing topic and confusing her.

"Um, yeah, I did." She says, glancing at Elena to find her looking between the two like she doesn't know what's going on.

"Then, what are you still doing here?"

It takes everything she has not to slap him all the way back to the boarding house, but she can't because there are people here and if she does that he's sure going to retaliate. Instead, she swallows the newly formed knot on her throat and pushes her way out of the room, making sure to push Damon's shoulder a little harder than necessary.

"That was extremely rude." Elena scolds, looking after her new friend.

"I'm rude, and she deserved it." He says back, frowning.

"No, she didn't and you know that." Elena presses the matter before walking away.

The rest of the night she either spends with Elena and Caroline chatting away their sorrows—Elena doesn't ask anything about her past but she knows that eventually she'll have to spill the beans, so to speak.—or watching everyone from a safe distance. This far she's learnt a lot of things. Jeremy Gilbert, Elena's little brother, doesn't think Vicky Donovan's death was an accident—which apparently wasn't, because she turned, got out of control and they killed her and Elena had Damon erase his memory. Yes, she did found all that in just a few hours of eavesdropping. And a little bit of past-seeing.—Stephan finally gave into the human blood, which she doesn't know if it's a good or a bad thing, Kelly Donovan and Tyler Lockwood, who is not bad for a simple teenage guy, made out and Damon killed John Gilbert, Elena's uncle. All that happened in four hours.

Now she's standing near the dance floor alone and watching everyone dance happily when something catches her eye. John Gilbert is making his way over to where the mayor is standing and he looks very alive. Scanning the crowd for Damon she makes her way over to him. It doesn't matter if he's an ass he's got to explain why the hell this guy rose from the dead.

"We have a problem." She mutters when she's close enough.

"Your personality?" he jokes but stops all together when he sees the look on her face.

"Dammit, Damon. I mean it, stop." She snaps. "John Gilbert is alive and unless you slipped him some of your blood before killing him, which I doubt so, I'd very much like for you to explain to me how it's possible."

"he is not ali—" he stops as his eyes travel to where she's looking and finds that he is indeed alive.

"Come with me." he grabs her hand and starts to walk to where everyone is gathering.

As they walk, he tries to ignore the tingling sensation her hand in his gives him. Because he knows the feeling all too well, it's the same feeling he'd get every time she'd kiss him when he was human and he's not going there, won't open that door. Because he _isn't_ human.

"… We protect each other." John is saying as they make their way through the crowd and Cassandra doesn't miss how he sends a pointed look Damon's way. "It's good to be home."

By then they're standing next to Mr. Saltzman which confuses her greatly.

"Look at his right hand." Damon orders him.

"Cassandra? What are you doing here?" Mr. Saltzman asks her.

"You know my history teacher." She states slowly, trying to take this piece of information in.

"He's kind of the vampire slayer of town." Damon shrugs.

"Like van Helsingr or Buffy?" she asks, eyeing the teacher up and down.

"… Buffy." Damon says making her giggle. "Look at town's favorite son's hand. His ring." He orders Alaric.

"It looks like mine."

"And it'd be a great coincidence if he hadn't come back from the dead five minutes ago." Damon hisses.

"Let me see that." she says as she takes Alaric's hand and examines the ugly ring in his finger.

"Emily did this, I helped her." She explains, not trying to cover that she's a witch, this is more important than a stupid secret they'll figure out eventually.

"How did you get it?"

It didn't make sense, how could he have the ring if he wasn't from town? Emily had given the ring to the Gilbert's and it was supposed to stay in the family through the generations.

"Isobel gave it to me." Alaric tells her.

Isobel, as in Katherine's 'friend' Isobel. This isn't good. This town is more dangerous that she realized, she shouldn't have come.

"Who gave birth to Elena under the medical care of Grayson Gilbert…" Damon mutters angrily.

"John's brother." She nods, completing the sentence.

This is unbelievable, she'll kill Katherine next time she sees her. When she told Katherine over the phone that she'd go back to mystic falls she had said 'have fun with my doppelganger.' Which didn't surprised her at all because Katherine obviously knew where her doppelganger lived but now, she's starting to think Katherine knows a lot more about this town than what she's telling her.

"You think john knew my wife?" Alaric asks Damon.

"He knows much more than that." she mutters.

As they walk outside, she had decided to stick with both men because what was going on there was much more exciting than anything else going on, they run into no other than john Gilbert.

"Leaving so soon?" he asks.

"Never liked to be the last to leave a party." Damon shrugs.

"Too desperate, right?" John says, glancing Cassandra's way. "Are you gonna kill me or are you gonna let Mr. Saltzman?"

Alaric comes to a halt, making her walk into him.

"Ok, so you obviously know who I am." He tells john warily.

"I do, the teacher with a secret." He says nonchalantly, obviously liking the fact that he knows more than them.

"You know an awful lot for someone who just got here." Damon says, also stopping.

By now, the four of them are standing in the middle of the street, with the three men looking at each other suspiciously and her wanting to blend in the shadows.

"And so does your redheaded friend." john says, stating that he knows she's there. "My knowledge about this town goes beyond anything that you or the council knows."

Cassandra has to suppress a scoff directed john's way. The knowledge he had came from Isobel who gained the knowledge from Katherine, meaning he knows everything _she_ knows.

"So know that if I die, everything I know goes to the council; including the fascinating story about the original Salvatore brothers and their present-day return to Mystic Falls." John threatens, making her take a step forward.

Damon remains silent, whether it is because he's speechless or simply killing john inside his head she doesn't know; ten seconds pass before any of them say anything until Alaric clears his throat and says:

"How did you get that ring?"

"I inherited one, this was gray's ring and I wouldn't have given Isobel mine if I'd knew she'd give it to another guy." He answers, looking down at Alaric's ring with disgust.

"So you knew her." Damon takes a step forward.

"Of course, who do you think sent her to you when she wanted to become a vampire?"

"You obviously did." She speaks for the first time since john appeared.

"Yeah, who else did you think, Damon? Maybe Katherine pierce?" He asks, just to bother Damon.

"_John."_ She warns, taking another step forward.

"Shut up, witch." He snaps at her, making her gasp.

He knows, he knows she's half witch and just threaten her about it. And nobody else knew.

"Um…ha, just…um—"she glances nervously at the three men before simply deciding this is going nowhere.

"I'm out of here." She mutters as she runs at vampire speed to her apartment. She is definitely killing Katherine next time she sees her.


	2. Miss Mystic Falls

_**Chapter 2: Miss Mystic Falls.**_

"Hello, Elena." She says melodically.

"Cass, hi!" Elena smiles at her. "How are you?"

It's been four days since the party and Elena, Caroline and Cass have spent a lot of time together. They truly are friends; Elena doesn't even want to know her past anymore and, for that, Cassandra is grateful.

"I'm good." she shrugs. "where's…?" she asks but her voice fades when she sees a red car, which was blasting music, park right next to them. Stephan comes out of it and walks nonchalantly toward them.

"…Stephan?" she finishes, baffled.

"Nice car." Elena compliments once he reaches her. "I didn't know you were coming today."

He leans down and kisses her. "I was feeling great this morning so I decided to come."

That's just plain wrong. He wasn't fine yesterday or the day before that, he can't waltz in here and pretend he's perfect. Cassandra has been where he is and she knows it doesn't go away that fast. She eyes him up and down suspiciously but doesn't say anything, not wanting to upset Elena.

"And you're ok… with the cravings." Elena states.

"The worst part is over." He nods and Cass shakes her head. They kiss again and again, which annoys here greatly. Seriously, get a room or leave, either way, just don't waste her time.

"I'm over here you know." She jokes, making Elena flush a little bit.

They walk to class but then Stephan says he forgot something in the car and goes back, none of them stop him.

"Ok, class. Today we'll forget about our current schedule and focus on founder's day. Apparently our town is more important than World War II but what do I—"Alaric stops talking when the door opens to reveal a dark-skinned brunette.

"Sorry I'm late." The girl apologizes and hurries to her seat, the one two seats down Cassandra's.

"It seems like we'll have full assistance, welcome back bonnie." Alaric smiles and goes back to the board.

Suddenly Cassandra gets a little dizzy and she's not in school anymore, she's in the middle of the woods and Emily is right beside her.

"_I want you to help her. That's why I summoned you here."_ She demands.

_"Help her and your debt will be paid, you'll be free to leave." _

The next moment Cass blinks, she's back at school and Mr. Saltzman is asking her a question. She frowns; Emily didn't even let her talk. That witch certainly is temperamental.

"Cassandra, Cassandra, Ms. Woodhouse!" Mr. Saltzman raises his voice, making her look at him.

"Are you all right? You were staring off at space." He says worriedly, it wasn't normal for a vampire to simply look like they were in shock.

"I'm fine. Were you asking me something, Mr. Saltzman?" she asks sweetly.

"Yeah, when was Mystic Falls founded?"

"Mmm…1859." She answers automatically.

"Right."

The rest of the class continues with a very long very pointless lesson on Mystic Falls.

"I just can't believe bonnie is finally back." Caroline chimes as they walk around the parking lot. "Her grandma just died so she was away for a few days, around two weeks actually and well, she's probably with Elena right now because Elena always comes first."

"Be careful, Caroline. That sounded strongly of bitterness." She warns as they get near bonnie and Elena.

"…when you told me that the tomb spell failed I just didn't want to come back." She could hear bonnie speaking.

So she's a witch and her grandma probably died when they opened the tomb and by her looks she must be a Bennet. Meaning, she's the one Emily wants her to help which makes sense because if her grandmother was the one who taught her and now she's dead, she's mentor less.

"Oh, there they're." Caroline beams. "Bonnie, bonnie!"

She runs to Bonnie and hugs her tightly. "I've missed you so much, how are you?" She asks her and bonnie smiles lightly.

"I'm better; I just need to keep myself busy." She answers smiling, her eyes glancing at Cass.

"Oh, how rude! This is Cassie. Cassie, bonnie."

"Cass, not Cassie." She corrects as she shakes Bonnie's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Bonnie."

Bonnie's eyes go wide as she touches Cass' hand but then she furrows. "Yeah, nice to meet you."

Cassandra doesn't pay attention to Bonnie's expression and, instead, directs her attention to the other two girls. She knows Bonnie felt she's a vampire but she must have felt she's a witch, too. The young witch must be feeling a little confused about it, so she decides to give her some time to get around the idea of there being a witch who is also a vampire.

"Anyway, I need your help ASAP. You've to help me find the perfect dress for the founder's court." Caroline babbles like nothing happened. It's not like she realizes Bonnie looking at Cass like she had two heads.

"Founder's court? What's that?" Cass asks.

"Miss Mystic Falls? They announced it today and Elena and I are on it." Caroline explains to her redheaded friend.

"We signed up so long ago I totally forgot." Elena says sadly.

Her mom had convinced her to sign up, she wanted her to become miss Mystic Falls and the idea had seemed so fascinating to Elena that she had agreed immediately. But now her mother is dead and she won't have her to help her choose a dress or her make up or hairstyle and suddenly, the idea of competing isn't so fascinating anymore.

"Oh! So are you dropping out?" Caroline asks, not hiding her excitement at Elena's dropping out.

"I can't mom wanted me to enter, so…" Elena's voice fades as she obviously thinks of her mother and Cassandra feels a pang of sympathy for her.

"Oh, well. So, bonnie, Cass, are you helping me?" Caroline asks excitedly and gets even more excited when bonnie nods.

"I'm not helping you." Cassandra shakes her head and takes a step closer to Elena. "Sorry, Caroline but if bonnie helps you I think it's only fair I help Lena."

"Oh, fine." Caroline pouts, making Elena giggle.

"Ok, so what should we do with your hair?" Cass asks as she sits Elena down on her dresser.

They had gone to her house after the little incident with Caroline because Cassandra wanted to help her right away. Elena had refused, saying that the contest wasn't until next week and that gave them a whole five days to decide anything but Cass wouldn't have it and here they are.

"I don't know, I was thinking maybe an up-do?" Elena asks, as she passes her fingers through her long hair.

"No, absolutely not." She shakes her head and starts thinking.

How can she make Elena look different but at the same time pretty? Her plain straight hair style is a little boring and an up-do will make her look a little old. She's looking for young and fresh but at the same time refined. There's only one look that can make Elena look like that so she'll have to pull a Katherine real quick and go get her curly iron.

Once she has it, she starts to comb Elena's hair and make perfect curls with the iron as they talk and laugh and for the first time in a long time she actually feels like a teenager.

"Ok, so bon jovi was there looking all cute and everything, totally hitting on me when this guy, who I had never seen in my entire life, comes up and—"she stops telling the story when her phone stars ringing.

"Ugh, you've got to be kidding Me." she grumbles, making Elena's smile fade away. "Hello, Damon." She speaks into the phone.

"Have you lost your mind?" he barks back at her, furious.

"What do you mean?" she frowns, putting the curly iron down.

"If you're going to steal from the hospital's blood bank at least compel the guy so he changes the records." He explains sarcastically, obviously not wanting to talk.

"Ok, pretty boy, newsflash: I haven't gone to the hospital's blood bank since I arrived and trust me, I didn't leave anything off." She says, insulted that he suggested she'd do such a stupid hazing.

"Then who did?" he asks, now curious. "Any visions, you half witch half vampire?"

"How did you know?...John." She scoffs. "Anyway, I don't know! Maybe some of the tomb vampires you allowed to go out did it."

"I didn't let them go out, the witches did." He says, making it obvious that he doesn't care.

"Right, but you wanted fucking Katherine out and in the process pushed too far, costing bonnie a grandma and giving _me_ a new student." She says sarcastically.

"What? It doesn't matter, it's not them. I talked to Ana." He shoots back.

"Well, but it isn't Me." she says, tired of this already. "Find out who it is and let me know. We'll talk later." She hangs up after than and turns to Elena who is still sitting in the dresser with half her hair curled and the other straightened.

"Is everything ok?" Elena asks, worried.

She walks to the dresser and starts curling the other half of Elena's hair, the mood slightly darkened. "Yeah, it's cool."

She continues to curl Elena's hair in complete silence and Elena starts to get more worried and worried by the second. Her friend isn't the same anymore and something tells her it's not just because she was just accused of robbery which gets her back to her ever-present question: what did happened between her and the Salvatore brothers? Especially one dark haired blue eyed brother?

"Cass, why do you refuse to be called Cassie? It's a pretty name." Elena asks, making her freeze and curse herself for doing so.

Why does she have to let him affect her so much? It was 145 years ago, for heaven's sake! And still she couldn't shake him. No matter what she did, who she dated or how many times she tried to switch off the flip.

"Damon calls me that. Called me." She corrects herself, closing her eyes. "I hated it with all I had, at first."

She doesn't understand why she's saying this, why she's going into touchy subject with Elena but when she remains quiet, Cassandra knows there's no coming back. She'll tell her past to Elena and maybe even bawl about how she fell in love when she shouldn't have.

"But then it simply amused me so he kept it up." She adds, still focusing on Elena's hair.

"That's why?" Elena asks, amazed.

"I know it's stupid, ok Elena? I know but it's just—and it's not like it's something only he can call me because honestly? That's something really ridiculous and I've had people called me that before, back when I was human but it brings back memories and pain and—" and she shuts up because by now the only thing she's doing is babbling and not really making any sense.

"It's ok, really. I'm sorry I asked." Elena mutters, putting a comforting hand on her friend. Although she doesn't really know why she's comforting her.

"Katherine turned me in 1498; I was 18 years old and staying with my stupid fiancé in Spain when she found me. She gave me the possibility to not marry the douche bag if I agreed to go with her." She keeps talking, this time actually thinking what she's saying.

Elena nods, understanding what her decision was seeing as though they're talking right now.

"And then you guys eventually came here, and met Stephan and Damon."

Cass nods and stays silent for a few seconds, turning the curling iron off and sitting in the bed. She can't stop thinking that if maybe, just maybe, she had stayed in New York back then instead of depending on Katherine; she wouldn't have suffered so much. But then she wouldn't have met them, him, and she wouldn't be here and she did spend some good times back in the time.

"Katherine liked games and toys, at first I was one of them but I learned her game pretty quick and she made me a player. She had all kind of toys, I guess you know what category Damon and Stephan were in." she lifts and eyebrow and smirks when Elena shudders.

"I wasn't part of the game; originally I was simply a friend. But one day Stephan appeared in my bedroom, saying something about being my turn." She explains, getting lost in the memory.

_Cassandra was moving up the big wooden stairs in the Salvatore residence, hoping to be able to get to her room after such a long day. She had been meeting practically every person in town for the entire day and was tired of having to behave perfectly._

_Opening her door, she started to undo her hairdo and tried as hard as she could not to rip her heavy long dress off of her; suddenly she felt a presence near her bed and turned around, cursing herself for not noticing earlier and relaxing when she realized it was only Stephan Salvatore. _

_"Stephan, you startled me." she said, looking at him._

_He was wearing his trousers and white shirt which had some of the buttons unbuttoned and his hair was a little messy. In that moment she realized how half of her hair was down and the other up and how half of her dress was also almost off. How incredibly disrespectful this was._

_"I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention miss Cassandra." He said, walking towards her._

_"Katherine's room is the one next door." She informed him, taking a step back._

_"I'm here for you, tonight's Damon's turn with Katherine." He answered her, taking another step towards her and confusing her. "And it's yours with me, you have to have fun."_

_Stephan was acting so out of character, she immediately knew he had been compelled to do this, to try to seduce her into their twisted game. Was it wrong that it was working? Since the start she had found both brothers incredibly handsome, of course Stephan seemed a little innocent at first, and now she had the opportunity to find out what Katherine's fuss was all about. One night, only one night with Stephan. They'd kiss, maybe go farther and she'd taste his blood and then compel him to sleep. The exact same thing Katherine did every night with one of them. Then maybe one day Katherine would send Damon to her and she'd do the same and once she had fulfilled her fantasy she'd get out of the stupid game. Just one time, right? No more._

_"Well, I'll tell you something." She smirked, deciding to go on with her train of thoughts and Katherine's wishes. _

_She started to close the distance between the two and once she was only a few inches away from him, she stood on her tiptoes so she could reach his ear._

_"I'm nothing like Katherine." She whispered before kissing him._

"But one night turned into another and then I couldn't get out." She finishes looking at a very shocked Elena.

"You slept with him?" Elena gasps.

Somewhere in her mind she had always imagined Cass sleeping with Damon, never with Stephan. Maybe it's because they're both very similar, dark, mean and hide their hurt—although she doesn't hide it that much.—and Stephan was just Cass' friend. Apparently, she was wrong.

"Don't worry; I never really slept with _Stephan. _We kissed and made out but I bit him before things went anywhere. As I said, he was innocent and so adorable I couldn't do it." She laughs at her expression but then sobers up.

"I do know it was wrong." She adds, looking Elena in the eye so she knows she's not lying.

"The way you say it… you did sleep with Damon, didn't you?" Elena asks. "That's why things are so tense and weird between you, isn't it?"

"Yes and no." she shakes her head. "I slept with him, all right. Not all the time but, sometimes, we kissed and then couldn't stop. Or didn't want to stop? I don't know. And I swear we only exchanged blood twice and he was willing." She points a finger at Elena and she nods.

"Then what happened? Why do you treat each other so badly?" Elena asks, confused.

The way she talks about Damon is like they got along fine, perfectly actually and Stephan did say that even though, she was friends with Katherine she had defended both of them so what happened to make those two hate each other so much when Stephan welcomed her with open arms?

"Katherine chose Stephan almost everyday, leaving Damon with me and we became best friends." _And I fell in love with him in the process._ She adds in her mind while absentmindedly biting her lip. "I always knew he was in love with her and well, she was pretty much the main reason of our fights so at the end we stopped talking about her. As you saw before, she's still a touchy subject."

"I still don't understand. You treat each other like that because of Katherine? Someone who's not even present in your lives." Elena says, obviously starting to judge her.

"No, Elena, that's not why. I watched them get killed, watched them turn, fight with having to make the decision to turn or not, knew they needed me and yet, I did nothing." She frowns, looking outside the window.

"I simply left, allowed them to think I was dead and 145 years later I appear at their town. Can you really blame him for hating me? Admit you'd have done the same." She admits, her voice breaking at the end.

"Stephan forgave you." Elena mutters, not really knowing how to deal with the close-to-tears vampire.

"Yeah but we both know Damon's not Stephan." She clears her throat and cleans her eye with her finger, making sure the tears don't mess her make up. "Anyway, let's keep talking about your hair. All right?"

"Sure." Elena says as they walk back to the dresser where Cass starts to finish her hair.

The story about her past doesn't come up again, but it's ok because Elena is going to observe for a few days before bringing it up again.

The days passed by quickly and Cass helped Elena with the dress and everything and, before they knew it, it's the day of the competition to know who will be this year's miss Mystic Falls. Damon had kept true to his word and had informed her that the one who had robbed the blood bank had been Stephan and had actually apologized from blaming her. With that piece of information, she'll try not to lose sight of Stephan through the night.

She walks inside the Lockwood's house in a beautiful knee-high dark green dress with her hair down her back in soft curls and some black high heels that are so high they kill her. It had been five days since Emily had talked to her and, yet, she hadn't been able to talk to Bonnie alone. She is kind of hoping to find her here. Right when the thought of having to drag bonnie by the hair so she can be able to talk to her, said girl walks past her.

"Bonnie, wait." She says, making bonnie stop.

Cassandra walks towards her until she's next to her and opens up her mouth to speak but bonnie beats her to it.

"Let me warn you, I know what you are and if you as much as try to threaten me I'll burst your brain with one look." Cass lifts an eyebrow at the threat.

This is the girl Emily wants her to help? She looks pretty experimented to her.

"I'm a witch too, bonnie. And I'm here to teach you." she goes straight to the point, ignoring her useless threat.

"What?" Bonnie's completely face changes into confusion.

"Emily appeared to me a week ago and told me to come here; she said I needed to teach you because your grandmother had died." She explains and touches her arm. "When you touch me, you feel death but also, comfort because I'm like you. You can trust me, Bonnie."

"Thanks to your friend grams is dead." She mutters.

"I'm not like him." she shakes her head.

Bonnie remains quiet for a few seconds, thinking about what she's told her and thoughts of her grams fill her mind, making her eyes glitter with tears.

"I don't really know what I'm doing." She admits, looking at Cassandra.

If Elena trusts her, she can trust her too. And she truly looks like a nice person, like she cares.

"I know, I've been there and I'll help you. No, don't cry, please." She hugs her lightly.

"Can I think about it?" bonnie asks, accepting the hug.

"Of course, you just let me now when you're ready."

"Elena's being called." Bonnie sniffs, looking towards the staircase and they walk there.

Walking down the stairs in a beautiful blue dress, one Cass chose, is Elena and she looks incredibly troubled. That's when she realizes that Stephan is nowhere near the stairs. Making her way through the crowd, she finally reaches Damon.

"Where the fuck is your brother?" she hisses, low enough for only him to hear.

"I don't know, I haven't seen him since I told Elena he's a blood junkie."He mutters back.

"You weren't supposed to tell her tonight, Damon!" she exclaims, by now Elena is almost down the stairs.

"Go take Stephan's place, go." She starts to push him to the bottom of the stairs, where Stephan's supposed to be.

"What? no." he protests but she won't have it.

"She can't not have an escort, so go now. Please." She pushes him a bit more until he starts to walk to where Elena is, just in time too because she just reached the bottom of the stairs.

Elena takes his arm, confused and starts to walk to the patio where the competitors and escorts will dance.

"Where's Stephan?" she whispers.

"I don't know." He whispers back.

As they stand in their positions and the crowd goes to stand around them so they can watch, Elena glances around everyone trying to find Stephan.

"What do we do now?" she mouths to him as they do a little bow.

"We'll go through with this, first." He mutters and they start to dance.

Cass looks at them dance from the first row of people, with bonnie to her right and Jenna and Alaric to her left, and tries as hard as she can not to be jealous. But fails, miserably. Because even though she has seen him kiss Katherine more than once, even though she's in full knowledge that he most likely still loves Katherine, that he doesn't even like her as a friend anymore and that he hates her and won't even look at her in the eye, _she_ used to be the only one _he _danced with. Not Katherine, not the rest of beautiful girls, _her._ And she always wished it'd stay that way.

_You force him to do it._ She reminds herself and lets out a sigh.

"Are you ok? You look… depressed." Bonnie tells her.

"I'm fine." She says, tearing her gaze away from the dancing couple and looking at her.

"I had a déjà-vù, that's all." She shrugs, looking back at them, who aren't dancing anymore, to find Damon's blue gaze on her.

"…and this year's miss Mystic Falls is… Caroline Forbes." the mayor announces.

Elena hugs her tightly and then walks to where Damon and Cass are standing, muttering things to the other agitatedly.

"What's going on? Did you find him?" Elena says when she reaches them.

"There was a broken mirror with blood on the bathroom; we haven't seen Stephan in a long time." Damon starts.

"And Amber is still missing." Cass cuts in.

"He wouldn't do it." Elena shakes her head in denial. "He won't do it, Cass."

She steps forward and puts a hand on Elena's shoulder. "Lena, I think he already did. Listen, I know it's hard to accept it but Stephan on human blood is a real monster." She says, and lifts her hand of Elena's shoulder when she flinches.

Ok, so maybe saying he's a monster wasn't exactly a good thing but she had to stop defending him so blindly, without knowing the whole story.

"Let's just find him, ok?" Damon tells them, directing them outside.

It takes them about ten minutes to find Stephan and when they do, Elena has to admit that maybe Cass was right. He has Amber pinned to him while he bites his neck; Amber looks extremely pale and about to collapse.

"Stephan, stop!" she exclaims, a little scared of her boyfriend.

The minute Elena's voice reaches Stephan he lets go of Amber who falls to the floor, and he turns around to face them, blood still dripping from his mouth and eyes wild. He looks like a cornered animal and Cass knows that is not good.

"Oh, my god." Bonnie mutters once she finally reaches them.

She had been following them, feeling that something was wrong but she didn't expect this.

"Stephan, come on man. Get control." Damon tells him slowly, as if talking to a wounded animal, as he starts to walk towards his little brother.

Although he hates to admit it, it hurts him seeing Stephan like this. So out of it, so not himself. Stephan takes a step forward, towards the group and Damon takes another step to his brother at the same time Cassandra does the same.

"It's ok, steph. Come on, fight through it. This isn't—"but he is cut off by his brother launching at him and throwing him away to a tree where he collides and makes a very ugly sound.

Damon stands up immediately, holding his hands out so Stephan knows he means no harm and tries to talk to his brother again.

"Stephan, stop it!" Elena yells again.

Stephan doesn't seem to see her, for him Elena is nothing but food, and he starts to stumble to where she is. Damon takes action and is about to grab Stephan but is suddenly startled when Stephan starts to cry out in pain. Cassandra couldn't just keep watching how her friend hurt his girlfriend and Damon. That simply wasn't going to happen so she had to step in.

"Bonnie what are you doing to him?" Elena shrieks, realizing her witch friend is there and figuring it's her who's causing her boyfriend pain.

"It's not me, Elena, I don't even know how to do that spell right." She throws her hands in the air in surrender.

Cass is slightly angry at bonnie for lying about the spell to her and that only makes her hold on Stephan even more painful. She admits giving a vampire an aneurism is bad for both her and the vampire receiving it because, seeing as though she's a vampire as well, it also hurts her but it is the most effective for crazy-with-blood-lust vampires.

"I think that's enough." Damon says a little bit shock; Elena and bonnie look at him while Stephan falls to the floor and grabs his head.

"I told you it's not me." Bonnie shakes her head, not knowing what to do.

"Cassie_, stop now." _Damon tells Cassandra, ignoring bonnie and taking a step towards Cass.

That's when the two girls look at the other vampire to find her glaring at Stephan with such intensity one would think she's trying to make his head explode with one look. The moment Damon talks to her she looks down, effectively pulling Stephan out of his misery.

Stephan looks up with fear written all over his features, he glances over at Elena with regret and then his eyes travel to Damon. He's scared his older brother will attack him for losing control, so he starts to back away.

"Steph, it's fine." Cass says softly, suddenly ashamed of what she did to him. "Please, let's just—"but she stops talking because Stephan disappears into the woods.

She drops her head into her hands, trying not to lose what little control she has left. How could she have done that to him? He's her friend, he trusts her and she just cold-bloodedly tortured him. Well, maybe it wasn't cold-blooded torture—because if it had been, she sure as hell wouldn't have let him go.—but having an aneurism over and over again hurts a lot and she simply stood there not even thinking about stopping. If Damon hadn't called her Cassie and, in the process, snapped her out of her deep concentration, she'd probably still be there giving one of her closest friends an almost unbearable pain.

"Are you ok?" a hand touches her shoulder and she looks up, meeting a beautiful pair of icy blue eyes.

"I'm fine." She whispers.

He examines her whole faces and frowns when it becomes obvious that she isn't fine, if anything she's far from fine. Her green eyes are a little wide and are lighter than usual, which if her remembers correctly only happens when she's upset, her browns are furrowed and her chin is quivering.

"You aren't." he shakes his head.

"I can't believe I hurt him." she says, her voice wavering a bit at the end. "I've never hurt him."

"I know." He tells her as he grabs her arm and pulls her towards him.

He doesn't know what compelled him to do it; it wasn't like him to go around hugging people. The human Damon didn't do it, the vampire Damon didn't even think about doing it; but she looked so sad, he had to do something and hugging her was the first thing that registered in his mind. He's about to pull her away because he had promised himself he wouldn't open that door, not now, not ever, because he's supposed to hate her now, when she starts crying and that's all it takes for him to hug her tighter.

"Elena, Why don't you and bonnie go find sheriff Forbes?" he asks her, making her stop staring at the both of them like they're aliens.

"Tell her I'm looking for her." Elena nods her head and starts to walk away, she looks back once in a while to find Damon still hugging Cass.

"I've never seen him treat someone like that." Elena mutters to herself as she and bonnie make their way to the house where Sheriff Forbes is.

While Elena and bonnie are away, Cassandra is trying to stop crying. But it's like someone opened a faucet in her eyes and now they won't close it.

"I'm sorry." She sobs. "And I don't just mean tonight."

He frowns but doesn't say anything. Wasn't this what he wanted? For her to apologize for everything? For faking her death, for running away, for not looking for him, for not telling him she is a witch and the list goes on. But somehow the fact that she's apologizing over Stephan being hurt bothers him, because it's always about Stephan, right?

"I know." He clears his throat.

He decides to at least fix things between them, even if it won't be the same and if they wont be as close as before—because he doesn't have friends, not anymore, and he doesn't feel anything else than hate and anger.—and even if she really is apologizing over Stephan's pain and not her real regret, he wants thing to be fixed because he can't stand the hurt that flashes across her eyes every time he insults her and if they're even he won't have to insult her anymore.

"It's ok." he mutters, trying to convince her.

After a few minutes, he sees Sheriff Forbes walking to their location and forces Cass out of his hold.

"Listen to me, Sheriff Forbes is coming and you have to help me cover for Stephan can you do that?" he asks her, pushing her hair out of her face.

She nods and is about to open her mouth when Sheriff Forbes beats her to it.

"What happened?" the sheriff asks, rushing to Amber and calling an ambulance in the process.

Elena and Bonnie are not that far behind and rush to Cass who Damon has at arms length and still looks a little shaken up. Damon lifts an eyebrow and Cass nods, stepping away and turning to the sheriff who, when she sees she's crying rushes to her side as well.

"This is Cassandra, she found the girl." Damon tells the sheriff.

Elena and bonnie share a look of confusion but look back towards the scene when the sheriff asks Cass exactly what happened.

"I was joking around with the girls, running into the woods when I saw Amber on the floor." She starts to speak but pauses for emotional effect, making tears stream down her face.

"I went to see what was wrong when I saw all the blood. My scream made bonnie and Elena come see what was wrong and she said it was better if we called him… Damon. What happened to her? Is she going to be all right?" she rushes as she looks over to Amber who is now being treated by some paramedics.

She could be an actress. Elena can even imagine her acknowledgement speech as she receives her academy award, is it possible that she's been an actress a long time ago? Maybe in the 30's, she was.

"It's an animal attack but she'll be all right, maybe a few stitches." The sheriff says, trying to calm down the scared girl in front of her. "It was very wise of you girls to call Damon."

"Now you look a little shaken up, why don't you go home and have a cup of tea? I want to speak with Damon." Cass gets the hint and nods.

Still crying and shaking a little, she turns around and starts to walk towards Elena. The moment she hears the sheriff start to talk to him, she drops the act and stops crying, rolling her eyes at how easy that was.

"It was incredibly easy." She scoffs once she reaches Elena and wipes the tears away from her face.

The girls follow her, not knowing what to do. They walk to the parking lot where Cass' car is next to Bonnie's, when Cassandra suddenly stops and turns to face them.

"I understand you've gone through a lot and at least one of you is freaked out about what I did back there. Never the less, my offer still stands, bonnie. I'll teach you everything you need to know about witchcraft but right now, I feel you two should talk, because once you've agreed to be part of this there's no going back." She says, speaking majorly to Bonnie but directing the last part to both of them.

Things are about to get more difficult and maybe Elena can still get out of the complicated life someone who belong to their world has to live. Both of them nod and she gets inside her car.

As she's nearing her house her phone starts to ring and she sighs as she picks it up.

"How may I be of help to you, Mr. Salvatore? I'm being incredibly generous today." She mutters.

"You think you can come to the boarding house for a second? I'm dealing with a troubled Elena." He says and she immediately starts to head towards his house, speeding.

"What did he do?" she says, knowing it has to do with Stephan.

"Nothing…yet." He pauses for a second and by then she's already outside his house. "She wants to put him in the cellar for a while."

"And I agree." She tells him, getting out of the car and walking to where he is outside.

"Where is she, anyway?" she asks once they're inside and Elena is nowhere to be found.

Right as if on cue, Stephan yells at someone upstairs and she nods, knowing it's Elena he's yelling at probably because she's trying to make him feel better. She sits down on the couch and looks around the living room, realizing she's never been inside the boarding house before. Something about the place gives her the impression of snotty fancy and old-fashioned people or maybe that's only because she knows the place is old. The fireplace has a small fire that gives the room a warm feeling which the warm colors of the furniture and the wood heighten, it feels familiar and alluring.

"Why am I here, again?" she asks Damon, snapping him of whatever thoughts he was thinking.

"… In case the plan doesn't work and you have to step in with your witchy trick." He improvises quickly.

The truth is he doesn't know why he called her. But when Elena said what was best they did and he agreed, he felt like Cass had a right to be there as well so he called her. In fact, he wasn't even aware of what he was doing until she picked up the phone and telling her to come was the first thing that left his lips; maybe he wanted her to do it herself, or maybe he just didn't want to be alone while Elena literally tricked his little brother into unconsciousness.

"It's going to be ok." they hear Elena say upstairs and then a groan and a thud when Stephan falls to the floor.

"Well, my help wasn't needed." She shrugs and gets up, following Damon upstairs.

He doesn't answer her because he knows she's right. Instead, they make their way silently into Stephan's room where they find Stephan completely knocked out and Elena standing awkwardly next to him. She distracts herself for a bit by studying the room; it actually reminds her of Stephan and it's got nothing to do with the fact that she knows it's his. The furniture, the colors, the way the books are scattered everywhere but somehow the room doesn't look messy at all, it all shouts out Stephan's personality, his aura.

"You're sure about this?" he asks Elena who silently nods.

He takes his little brother and throws him over his shoulder without effort. The three of them walk down to the basement where the cellar is without a word and Cass takes Elena's hand supportably while Damon puts Stephan in it. He spends more time than necessary inside, watching Stephan carefully while he thinks about something. Cass observes this closely, trying to figure out if she'll have to step in now and finish the job herself; right when she's letting go off Elena's hand and taking a step forward, he finally turns around and goes out.

"There's no guarantee that it'll work." He explains to Elena as he closes the cellar door.

"It has to work." She shakes her head and sits down on the ground, right in front of the door.

"He won't wake up any time soon." Cass says, looking at Stephan's unconscious form through the bars. "You should go home."

The only response she gets from the brunette is a shake of her head as she brings her knees towards her and hugs them. The two vampires share a look before sighing and sitting down on the hard floor. Looks like is going to be a long night.


	3. Brothers by blood

**_Mystic Falls, 1864._**

_The whole town was in chaos, men with torches were walking around trying to identify any monster and catch it. Jonathan Gilbert was leading the group of men, with his vampire tracking device which was pointing north as guide. Two men were dragging an unconscious man towards Jonathan who slapped him a few times as he looked for a response; there was none. They threw him in the carriage where the others vampires were, as well as Katherine Pierce. The Salvatore brothers watched this carefully, trying to come up with a plan so they could get their beloved Katherine out of there._

_"You go around that way and I'll distract them." Stephan said to his brother quickly._

_His brother nodded and started to go through with the plan at the same time Stephan went out of the bush and said to the men:  
"over here, I think we have another one." _

_He started to run the other way and the men followed him, only leaving one person minding the carriage. Damon crept up behind the man and hit his head, knocking him out. He started to search for the keys at the same time Stephan came back. Damon took the key and opened the carriage._

_"Quick, we don't have much time." He informed his brother as they searched inside the carriage and got Katherine out._

_They put her in the ground carefully, afraid she might've break at any sudden mood. She looked so fragile and vulnerable, a very different image from her usual strong pride demeanor. Damon unclasped the muzzle and took it off Katherine's face, waking Katherine in the process; she still wasn't completely conscious but her eyes were slightly opened._

_"We are going to get you out of here." Damon soothed her as he tried to untie her hands._

_All the while Stephan surveyed the area suspiciously. "Damon, hurry."_

_At the same time Damon finally untied Katherine's hands, there was a gunshot and he fell to the ground with a grunt. Cassandra was watching all this from a safe distance, simply luring in the shadows like the monster she was. She knew that coming here was dangerous but the town's people had already gathered all the vampires and the only thing they had left to do was going to the church, so she took a chance and went to watch how they killed her vampire friends, some of them almost family. She didn't count on the Salvatore brothers to appear in the picture, though._

_"Oh, my." She gasped low enough for nobody to hear._

_Right when she was about to take one step forward, somebody stopped her by grabbing her by the shoulders._

_"No, Cassandra, it's dangerous." Emily said to her. "He'll turn, they both will. You'll see them again."_

_"When? You know as much as I do that after tonight I'll have to run. Pretend I'm dead." She muttered back to the witch as she started to fight tears._

_ Back in the road where the carriage was, Stephan left Katherine's side in a flash and was next to his brother who was gasping for air and having difficulty with breathing. His eyelids were getting heavier and heavier by the minute and before Stephan could do anything, they were closed and Damon's heart stopped beating._

_"No… Damon." He said but it was no use, his brother was gone._

_"I think we got one, sir!" a man exclaimed in the distance as they started to make their way back._

_Stephan looked up and saw the gun that the man Damon knocked out had had near him. He went and lifted the gun, ready to aim at whoever was going to hurt him, to hurt her. Just then another gunshot was heard and Stephan also fell to the ground, the last thing he remembers is looking over to Katherine and watching how the men took her back to the carriage before it all went black._

_Cassandra waited until the men left and made her way over to the clearing, her heavy dress making her unable to run. That or maybe the knowledge of two of the most important people of her life laying there in the cold ground, dead. She looks over at Stephan, cold dead Stephan with his eyes still open looking blankly at the spot where Katherine had been. Ignoring the strong smell of blood, she croucheddown next to him and closed his eyelids shut with delicate fingers, her eyes lingering in his face. She knew this was the last time she'll probably see him so she had to memorize as much as she could of both of them. Getting up she took a deep breath in and turned around, her eyes falling to the other figure in the ground and her vision blurry for the fresh tears._

_This wasn't supposed to happen; she wasn't supposed to let this happen. It wasn't their time to turn and the fact that he most likely died with her blood on his system instead of Katherine's made her feel even worse. She knelt down next to him and cleared the hair out of his forehead, her hand lingering in his cheek for a moment. Suddenly, a clear tear fell on his face and that was all it took for her to start crying. _

_"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She mumbled, trying to hold back sobs._

_She put her other hand on her mouth and simply sat there, looking at his dead body and wishing she could see his blue eyes one more time. No one was going to help them through the transition, or to control their thirst or teach them how to use compulsion. She couldn't, she was supposed to be dead and for their own good, more than hers, it was better if they weren't connected to her in any way. Yet, that didn't mean that saying goodbye hurt any less. Emily stood next to her, watching as she hugged Damon's body one last time._

_"Cassandra, you have to leave now miss." Emily said with a sad edge to her voice._

_ "I know." She muttered with a shaky voice._

_She leaned in and gave him one last kiss on his cold lips before getting up. As she walked away from the scene that was the first time in 400 years she turned her humanity off._

**_Present time._**

"Why don't we start with something simple?" Cass asks bonnie as they sit down on her dining room table, with the grimore between them.

Bonnie had accepted Cass' offer and they had agreed to start today, of course it's a little awkward at first but now things are starting to look better. Although, today is not exactly the best day for Cass. Stephan's still in the cellar, still in his own world; according to Damon, he woke up this morning but briefly.

"I know you know how to light a candle and a levitation spell." She says and bonnie nods. "Well, I was thinking we could start with something a bit more difficult. Like a location spell."

Bonnie hesitates and starts to shake her head, that's a hard spell her grams had trouble doing it, there's no way she'll be able to do it.

"Please? It's not that hard, I swear." Cass presses the matter and starts to light two candles.

She looks over at the grimore and realizes Emily wrote the spell that's a little harder to do, so she closes the grimore and reaches for the map of Mystic Falls that's at the far end of the table.

"The procedure is simple; you light the candles and lay the map on the table, then you put the possession of that person right above the map and focus on visualizing that person." She explains as she walks to the living room and searches for Elena's hairbrush.

"But that's not how the grimore says it is." Bonnie objects, looking over the grimore and realizing it should be way more complicated.

"Emily liked complicated spells, this one is a little simpler and you're not ready for Emily's yet." She tells her, handing Bonnie the brush. "This is Elena's, do what I told you."

Bonnie closes her eyes and focuses on visualizing Elena like the last time she saw her, she furrows her eyebrows when the memory of the Miss Mystic Falls competition comes to mind; how they fought and how Bonnie told her that she wouldn't make her choose but that she most likely won't be part of the mess Elena is in, because she doesn't want to be part of it. She opens her eyes when she feels the brush slip through her fingers and hears it hit the table.

"I did it!" she exclaims, surprised.

Cassandra studies the exact spot the brush hit and sees it's a few miles away from the boarding house, instead of being right above the boarding house. Not bad for a first timer.

"Almost did it." She signals the place where the boarding house is located with her finger. "She's here, but you were close enough. What were you thinking about?"

"Last time I saw her, we were fighting." Bonnie says with a sad edge to her voice.

"Why don't you try again? This time focus on her and not on the situation or what was said."

This time the brush falls in the exact same spot of the boarding house and Bonnie can't help but grin. Cass laughs.

"Wow, you really are a Bennet witch."

"Have you met many Bennets?" bonnie asks. "Grams told me some stuff about my family but—well, she wasn't alive to meet them so her information was vague."

"I've met thousands of Bennets. Your bloodline and mine were very close." She gets up and walks to the bookshelf and takes one specifically heavy book.

She opens it and shows Bonnie a picture of a dark-haired dark-skinned woman next to a blonde one that has blue-greenish eyes.

"She looks like you… except for the hair." Bonnie adds.

"That's because she's my great-grandmother, Meredith Woodhouse. And that's Elizabeth Bennet, they were best friends." She explains. "Your family and mine were the most powerful witches in the world but then my bloodline ended with me and the Bennets remained."

"That's so cool." Bonnie awes and Cass giggles. "What about Emily?"

Cass freezes for a minute before closing the book and returning it to the bookshelf. She turns around and sits next to Bonnie. What should she tell about Emily? She was a very powerful witch, also a little dangerous and sometimes, incredibly scary.

"Well, Emily was… She was really powerful, tried to help the people in town while being loyal to Katherine at the same time. But she was—well, she could be…" she fumbles with her words.

"Scary." Bonnie adds and Cass nods. "She took over my body or something around the time Damon wanted to open the tomb, he almost killed me because she did something."

Cass ponders her statement for a minute before understanding what she's talking about. Emily must have destroyed the crystal that channeled the energy needed to open the tomb, destroying Damon's hope of opening and getting Katherine out.

"She destroyed the topaz crystal. I'm surprised you're alive, Damon doesn't like it when people get in-between Katherine and him." she doesn't even try to suppress the bitterness out of her voice.

"It's hard for me to even imagine Damon feeling love." Bonnie shakes her head in disbelief.

"Why don't we—um, why don't we continue this tomorrow?" she clears her throat, evading that topic. "I have things to do."

She closes the grimore and hands it to Bonnie who blinks and watches as Cass blows off the candles and puts everything away. She wonders what she did, the only thing she did was mention Damon is an ass but that she knows. Maybe she just doesn't want to speak ill of her friend, yes, that must be it.

"Ok, see you tomorrow Cass." She says as the redhead shows her to the door and gives her a smile.

"Hello?" Cass says when she picks up the phone.

"Hey, Cass…um, how're you?" Elena asks, nervously.

"I'm fine, like I was this morning." She says as she puts on her white summer dress. "…the last time you saw me."

"Ok, bear with me here. I'm worried and I was actually wondering if you could ask Damon what is Stephan's… favorite… food?" she mumbles and Cass laughs.

"Why? You're buying? Mine is A+, you know."

She starts to put on her ankle-high high-heeled boots and thinks of blow drying her still damp hair but decides against it, it's been a while since she's have it in its natural wavy style.

"I'm not kidding Cassandra." Elena sighs, embarrassed and a little anxious at her friend.

"Fine, I'll do it. See ya." She smiles before hanging up and dialing Damon's number.

"What?" he snaps.

"Wow, someone's in a good mood." She jokes. "Anyway, how's Stephan?"

"Extra broody, hold on." There's some sound on the other line and a click, signalizing he's switching lines. "He won't eat."

The smile fades from her face and she furrows, he has to eat. If he doesn't eat then he really is going to start to desiccate. She gets up and starts to walk downstairs, putting on her leather jacket and grabbing her keys on her way out.

"He has to eat, it's been five days and the vervain is long out of his system why won't he eat?"

"Beats me." Damon tells her and she's sure he just shrugged.

"What's his favorite type of animal blood?" she rushes. "Ugh, that sounds wrong."

"Worse than asking if you like O+ or B-? Hurry up, we have stuff to do." he says.

"You're an idiot." She rolls her eyes as she starts the engine on her car.

"You love me." he scoffs.

_You've no idea how much and you'll never know. _She thinks before shaking her head. "You wish." She jokes. "So, what is it that we have to do?"

"I'll tell you later… and Stephan likes puppy blood." he explains, pausing a minute to think if he remembers her favorite kind of dog. "You know Dalmatians puppies' blood."

"You're impossible." She shakes her head and hangs up.

**_Mystic Falls, 1864._**

_"I bet Jonathan Gilbert has told father by now." Stephan said as he carried a bucket full of water. "That we're dead."_

_ He flopped down on the ground next to his brother who was staring off at the lake._

_"Who cares? He betrayed us." Damon cut in._

_"He believed he was protecting this town." Stephan shook his head, defending their father._

_"The sun hurts my eyes." Damon flinched back, closing his eyes._

_"Emily says that's our bodies pushing us to feed." Stephan explained._

_"That's not happening." Damon protested._

_"That's your choice, then? To die instead." Stephan asked his brother, slightly disappointed._

_"Isn't it yours?" Damon turned around to face him. "This was all to be with Katherine. And she's dead, now." The pain was palpable in his voice._

_"What about Cassandra? She wasn't dragged into the carriage." He muttered._

_He hadn't seen Cassandra since the day before everything went to hell, that night he had been with Katherine and Damon had spent the whole night with Cassandra. Yet, none of them had seen her since that morning. It was like she had disappeared, gone for a walk with Katherine and never came back._

_"She's dead. Jonathan Gilbert killed her himself, that's what they were talking about whilst they made sure the vampires in the church burned to death." Damon hesitated. "Katherine's gone, Cassie's gone. I want it over."_

**_Present day._**

"He's being dramatic; he's not going to starve himself to death." Damon tells Elena who sits on the couch.

"Why would he say that?" she asks, referring to Stephan saying 'it has to end' when Elena went to speak with him.

"Maybe he still feels bad about hurting that girl." Cassandra suddenly cuts in as she walks into the living room where they are. "It'll pass."

Damon turns around to face her and frowns; she rolls her eyes at that. Ok, so he said hurry up and she didn't. Big deal.

"What part of hurry up didn't you get?" he asks sarcastically at his friend.

The word seems foreign in his head, friend. Is she really? She used to be. Although considering what they did, they were probably more friends with benefits. But still, she was his friend. 145 years ago. But is she his friend now?

"He seems in a lot of pain." Elena jumps in before the two start fighting again.

"That should pass too." Damon nods at her as he leans into the table.

"she didn't mean physical pain, Damon." Cass says as she seats on the couch.

"I know what she meant." He rolls his eyes and looks at Elena. "Are you going to be ok here? If we two run out? We've got some things to do with the teacher."

"Alaric?" Cass asks as she turns around to face him and he nods at her.

"Are you two friends now?" Elena cuts in, confused.

"I don't have any friends, Elena." He shrugs as he gets up and puts on his jacket.

"Except, maybe you." he points a finger to Cass and she shrugs. Better be a friend than a total stranger.

"You should stay here, don't go down." He adds, giving Elena a pointed look.

"I'll be fine." She calls after him.

"Very trusting with him, shouldn't be." he stops and tells her over his shoulder.

"So are you, otherwise you wouldn't be leaving." Elena tells him with a raised eyebrow.

Cassandra stays at the door, looking at the exchange with a frown etched to her beautiful face. Where has she heard that tone before?

"I won't be long, I promise." Damon says softly one last time before walking up to Cassie. And right there is where she remembers, the soft tone, the lighter than usual blue eyes. It's the exact same way he'd talk to Katherine. Damon can't possibly be in love with Elena, can he?

"Have you seen this before?" he asks her once they picked up Alaric. He hands her a circular device, by the looks of it it's very old. "It doesn't work."

"It looks strangely familiar, who gave you this?" she asks as she turns it over to see if it does anything.

"Pearl, but John wants it." They pull up near a house and they get out.

"Why are we here, again?" she asks as the three of them walk to the door.

"John has been getting phone calls from here; we think it might be Isobel." Damon explains like it's not a big deal.

She nods and glances at Alaric. Isobel was his wife, that would be the reason why he's been really quiet in the whole way here, that and the fact that he's still not entirely over the fact that Cassandra is also a vampire. Lately it seems like everyone he meets is a vampire or a witch.

"This is when it gets tricky, we might or might not be able to come in." she mutters, looking at the door like it could bite.

"How does that work? You have to be invited in all the time?" Alaric wonders.

"By the owner or person of entitlement." Damon shakes his head.

"Hotels and short term rentals are a gray area." Cass explains a little bit better. "You have to play it by ear."

She takes a step forward and forces the lock, opening the door and staying right outside the door. She looks inside but doesn't see anything, she can't hear anything either.

"Can we please not kill anyone tonight?" Alaric asks them.

"You brought me for company?" Damon asks at the same time Cass scoffs. He takes a step toward her and stands at her side.

"What do you think?" he asks in her ear.

"I don't think anyone's home. After you, Alaric." She steps aside and Alaric goes in.

He looks around and doesn't find anything; he looks at the two vampires waiting outside and lifts an eyebrow. The two of them look at each other and then at the door, Cassandra shrugs and walks to the door going in without a problem. Damon follows suit, a little surprised about how nonchalantly she handled the situation.

They start to walk down the hall and go different directions; Damon goes to the kitchen and starts to look around it. He opens the refrigerator to find it full of blood bags, frowning he looks back to the kitchen almost expecting to find Cass there, only to find the kitchen empty.

"Guys, we have company." He says to the air.

He hears some grunting coming from the living room and he rushes there to find Alaric fighting with a vampire. He throws the vampire away from him and it falls to the ground. Right then, Cass appears in the door to the living room. She surveys the scene and her eyes fall on the vampire on the floor.

"Henry?" She asks, surprised to see the young vampire there.

"Miss Cassandra?" he asks, getting up and fixing his jacket. He goes to hug her but Damon gets in between and glares at him.

"I know you, you were in the tomb." He says.

"Yes, sir." He nods.

"How do you know Cassandra?" Alaric cuts in, looking between the three vampires and realizing he's incredibly outnumbered.

"She turned me." He explains excitedly.

The other two men in the room eye her weirdly and she shrugs. Ok, so she turned him big deal. He was dying and she was feeling compassionate, turning him was the best way out.

"What are you all doing here?" Henry asks, still excited.

After a few minutes, Henry pours two drinks of blood, one for Damon and the other for Cassie who he seems to adore. He smiles at her and makes sure she's fine and doesn't need anything. For some unknown reason, it bothers Damon. A lot.

"Thank you." she says as she takes a sip.

"It's A+, I know you like that type so…" Henry fumbles with his words and looks down.

"Are you nervous for some reason?" She giggles, finding it cute that he's nervous about her.

"No, but you look very pretty Miss Cassandra." He tells her, smiling.

Alaric watches amused at the exchange and shakes his head at how obviously Cass plays with the poor guy and how obviously jealous Damon is, even if he doesn't know it.

"How do you know john?" Damon asks Henry through his clenched jaw.

"I met him when I got out of the tomb; he's been helping me out." He explains.

"Helping you out how, exactly?" Cass asks, suspiciously.

"Adapting, it's a whole new world. He helped me get this place." Henry says.

"You live here alone or is someone else?" Alaric questions him.

Henry glances at him confused and Cass smirks, getting up and walking toward poor Henry.

"What our friend is trying to say is we're looking for a woman named Isobel. Do you know her?" she asks Henry while putting a delicate hand on his shoulder.

"uh, mmm no I don't know an Isobel." He stutters. "I know John, he's my friend."

"What do you do for him?" Damon asks.

"I keep an eye on the others, the ones from the tomb." Henry explains, looking at them. "I'm cool but they want revenge, man. He makes sure they stay out of trouble."

"Well, you know John, such a good person." Damon says sarcastically and Cass shares a look with Alaric who scoffs. Then the phone rings and Henry fishes for it on his pockets.

"Hey, look at that. It's John!" he says animatedly. Poor naïve Henry, she actually feels bad about what's going to happen now for sure.

"Oh, let me talk to him." Damon gets up from the table and walks to Henry and Cassie, taking the phone away from him.

He stands there with a smirk on his face and the phone on his hand, still ringing. Alaric takes a step forward, trying to not make it obvious that the three of them are circling in the vampire.

"Are you gonna get that?" Henry asks, his smile slightly falling.

"Am I?" Damon asks sarcastically.

Henry looks nervously at the three, this time for good reason. Alaric looks down to avoid his eyes so he looks over to Cassandra who has a little smirk playing on her lips. But this smirk is not playful, it's evil and he immediately knows something's wrong. Veins appear under his eyes as they turn red and fangs appear, he hisses and lunges to where Damon is but Cassandra drives her hand through his chest, grabbing his heart before he gets to touch Damon. Alaric takes a step backwards, shocked and Damon does the same, eyeing Cass and having a feeling of déjà-vù. He had only seen her like this once, when she fought with Katherine and he eavesdropped.

"Goodbye, Henry." She smiles sweetly at him before ripping his heart out.

As his body falls to the ground, she crosses on of her arm and supports her elbow on it holding the bloodied heart on her hand. The men eyes go to the body and then to her. She licks a finger and gags.

"Blah, he used to be an O+. Now I remember why I didn't eat him." she shudders.

Alaric glances at her like she just grew a second head and Damon actually takes a deliberately step away from her. She looks at them and steps over Henry's body without a second glance and toward the sink.

"Oh, he had to die. You knew that." she rolls her eyes and turns to the sink where, after throwing the heart to the floor, she cleanses her bloodied hands. Both men raise their hands in surrender.

Damon pours him and Cass another drink of blood and walks to the living room, where the other two are. He hands Cass the glass of blood and asks:

"Did you find something?"

"The place is clean." She says, looking at Alaric sympathetically.

The man plops down on the couch next to the young vampire—or is she old? She knows Damon so she must be.—when Damon reenters the room and gives him a bottle of beer.

"Found it on the fridge." He tells him.

"Man, this is a real dead end." Alaric groans as he runs a hand through his hair.

"Don't beat yourself over it. It's not your fault." She says as she puts a hand on his shoulder.

"What did you think you were gonna find, Isobel with slippers and reading the paper?"Damon rolls his eyes and sits on a chair.

She rolls her eyes at his insensibility, because he never tried to see if he could find Katherine. If anything, Alaric has a right to be confused, has a right to want answers. However insulting she finds this comment; Alaric doesn't seem to mind and cracks a smirk.

"Man, I gotta stop this," he says, turning serious. "I can't keep searching for her."

"After two years and a half? That's incredibly healthy." She tries to joke and actually receives a smirk from both men.

"When did you stop?" Alaric turns to face her and she shrugs.

"I tend to fall for the guy who doesn't want me, so at the end they leave and I'm left picking up the pieces. I never really started." She mutters, uncomfortable with the fact that the guy who broke her is in front of her.

"And you? What year is it, 146?" Alaric directs the question to Damon who is looking at Cassandra who is finding the floor very interesting. The idea of her having to pick up the pieces of a broken heart bothers him, he knows what it feels like to be broken and she shouldn't feel like that.

"I figured the two hundred year mark might be a good stopping point." He chuckles and shakes his head.

"No answer is enough; I keep wanting to know when and how. The precise moment when my wife decided I wasn't enough, you know?"

"She charmed me; she played a good game and had this excitement in her eyes. I wish I had known she was related to Katherine in some way…" Damon says, whether he's trying to make Alaric feel better or worse she can't tell.

"She wasn't." she cuts in. "related to Katherine, I mean. Katherine met her after Isobel turned."

"That's enough. I'm done with Isobel; I don't want to talk about it anymore." Alaric gets up and walks out of the house, slamming the door shut.

They remain silent for a long moment, none of them talking to or looking at the other until she stands up and starts to walk to the door. She stops in front of him and studies his face, wondering if she should tell him what she's wanted to since she discovered Katherine never really cared that much.

"The last time I saw Katherine in person was in '04, you were in Indianapolis and Stephan was in Texas. She knew where you were and yet, she left to Texas." He looks up to her and their eyes meet. Bright blue colliding with intense green. "I hate to say this but her decision was always the same, and it wasn't you, Damon."

He doesn't answer her, simply stares at her. He wants to not believe her; he wants her to be lying. He wants that so desperately it almost hurts, but she never lied and her eyes tell him she isn't lying now.

"I sent Isobel to you." she says and by the finality in her voice he knows she's done talking.

She leaves with that last sentence hanging in the air, left there for him to read as he pleases. But the thing is he doesn't know what to make out of that, he doesn't want to make anything out of that because making something out of that sentence would mean accepting Katherine never cared, Katherine never gave him a second thought after he died and she did. The fact that she sent Isobel to him, just like the fact that she knew where he was in '04, demonstrates that she really truly cared and bothered to know where he was and hopefully, although he won't admit it out loud, she bothered to know if he was ok. Cassandra Woodhouse was and is the only real friend he ever had and that's when he suddenly feels guilt rushing through his veins for all the bad things he did to her, and the ones he still does.

Cassandra walks into the boarding house living room to find a somehow troubled Elena writing away in her diary, she flops down next to her in the couch and sighs, leaning her head on her shoulder.

"Hey, where's Damon?" she looks around and Cassandra rolls her eyes.

"You know, when one of your friends puts her head on your shoulder and sighs is because she's miserable. And you, as a friend, are supposed to worry." She mumbles. "That's how it worked in my time, at least."

"All right," Elena smiles. "How did the errand go?"

"Useless, futile, pointless, disastrous, embarrassing…" she counts with her fingers as she lists all the awful adjectives she can think of to describe the evening.

"Ok, ok I get it wasn't pretty. What happened?" Elena asks, shutting her diary close and moving so she can look at the redhead.

"Well, there were some things said that should've been left unsaid, someone got his heart torn out literally and I think, I _think_ Alaric thinks I'm a psycho." She pauses, her eyes shining as the fire of the fireplace reflects in them, and moves to lay her head on Elena's lap. "And we watch Alaric have something close to a breakdown."

Elena goes to speak, her full attention on the story the redhead's telling. Who got his heart tore out, was she all right, was Damon all right, where had they gone, and why did Alaric break down? All this questions fill her mind and trouble her but right when she's about to voice her thoughts Damon walks into the room in one piece, answering one of her questions.

"Ugh, you're still here?" he asks her as he lifts Cass' legs and sits down, putting her legs back down on his lap. It's a silent agreement between them, one where he apologizes and she accepts it without really having to say anything.

"Were you expecting anyone else?" Elena asks, getting up and moving to the closest chair, deciding to leave the couch to the two vampires.

"Not really," he shrugs. "Has Stephan eaten?"

"I thought you didn't care." Cass muses, lifting an eyebrow and sitting up, folding her legs under her.

"Call it curiosity." He shoots back and she smiles a little.

Elena watches the exchange closely. She had set trying to figure out the relationship between the two as one of her goals of the month and no matter how hard she tries, she can't seem to be able to put a label to it. She knows they were friends before, she knows she feels guilty and he was not trusting her—until the miss Mystic Falls completion when he suddenly decided to take her along almost everywhere.—and she most definitely knows they're not having sex, but there's always this tension whenever the two of them are together and sometimes it's like she's not even in the room.

"He's getting there." Elena says and the other two turn to look at her. "But he has to deal with a lot of guilt and it doesn't help that you've punished him for Katherine getting caught the last 145 years."

"What?" both vampires say at the same time and Elena has to fight the urge to flinch.

"I'm just saying that you've make it your life's mission to torture him." Elena defends her boyfriend and Cassandra frowns, sending a wary look Damon's way.

"Let me ask you something," he gets up, obviously upset. "In all this cleansing of the demons of Stephan's life, did you bother to hear the rest of the story?"

"He said there was more." Elena says cautiously, shooting Cass an alarm look.

"That's an understatement." He snaps and starts to walk away.

"What—what is he talking about?" Elena asks Cassandra.

"I don't know." She answers quickly and gets up to go after Damon, Elena quickly following.

"Damon, what are you talking about?" she demands.

"yeah, tell us."

He locks eyes with the vampire and lifts and eyebrow, asking for permission to enter her mind. She nods after a second of hesitance and immediately the images of a lost memory fill her mind, a memory not hers to claim as. _It's near the end._ The thought makes her gasp a little as she finally understands. He had wanted to die instead, how could she not had seen this?

Suddenly, Stephan appeared; full of life and with a young girl at his side. He begged his brother to turn but he didn't want to and then Stephan's hand was on his shoulder and he's biting into the girl's neck, showing the blood dropping from the wound to his weakening-by-the-second brother. With a hand on his neck, he started to lead his brother's face toward the blood, closer and closer. _I won't._ He kept fighting but the smell was too strong and any struggle was useless so he gave into the blood, draining the girl dry and turning into a demon of the night.

"He took the choice from you." She whispers, blinking back the tears that filled her eyes from the memory.

"Stephan forced him to feed." She informs Elena whose eyes widen at this new piece of information.

"The moment he tasted human blood, he was a different person." He says as he moves to serve himself a glass of whiskey.

"Oh, god," Elena gasps. "He said he wanted to die and I didn't get it but I do now." She shakes her head and moves to the door.

Silence follows Elena's departure and Cassandra decides there's not much she can do about it so she sits down on the chair and gets comfortable, knowing that what Elena and Stephan have to talk about is private and doesn't concern her.

"I thought you always wanted to turn because of what being a vampire meant." She eventually says, looking at the fire.

"Yeah, no such thing." He says bitterly. "It's been a hell of a ride, though."

"Sorry." She says again, making him look at her, glass midway to his mouth.

"Why? You didn't do anything."

_Oh, I wish I hadn't._ She thinks as she shakes her head. "I'm sorry because no one should lose their right to choose and for… turning you."

He almost chokes on his drink, almost because really what kind of vampire does that?

"No, Katherine turned me." he protests as he sits down.

"You had my blood on your system when you died." She stops looking at the fire and turns around to face him. "Or do you not remember that night? I do."

He wants to go down memory line? She'll show him the real memory line.

**_Mystic Falls, 1864._**

_It must have been around 4:00 A.M. in the morning when a soft nock woke her up, her eyes flew open instantly and she sat up on her bed, already knowing who was at the other side of the door, his soft heartbeat giving him away._

_"Damon, why are you here?" she asked once she opened the door and let the human inside._

_"You know why." He almost snapped at her, forgetting about formalisms. _

_Cassandra sighed and sat on the window seat, shaking her head disapprovingly. Katherine had kicked him out of her room and had gone to Stephan's again. Lately, this had been happening more and more frequently and it couldn't be healthy for anyone involved. Not for Stephan, not for Damon and most definitely not for herself. _

_"Am I not enough, Cassie?" he wondered out loud as he stopped pacing back and forth on the room._

_"I have already discussed this with you, Damon, plenty of times." She said, turning her eyes away from the window and looking at him. _

_"It is not you, it's her." Their gazes connected and he found himself lost in her green eyes. She got up from the window seat and stood in front of him._

_"If she cannot see how good you are, then it is her loss not yours." By the time she was finished talking, they were inches apart and she could feel his breathing against her face._

_Standing on her tiptoes, she softly pressed her lips to his, smirking when his heart loudly picked up pace. Her hands went around his neck and pulled him down, slowly guiding him to the bed where she broke apart. She sat down and he sat down beside her._

_"I thought you said we were not doing this anymore." He muttered as he kissed his way from her jaw down to her neck._

_"I changed my mind, I suppose." She giggled before sobering up. "Forever is a very long time, why spend it with someone who treats you badly?"_

_"I love her." He stated like it were enough answer and look at her face. "And she loves me."_

_For once, she didn't argue but did something that took them both by surprise: she leaned in and hugged him. _

_"What is the matter?" he asked worriedly as he hugged back._

_She shook her head; it was ridiculous really but she had this nagging feeling in the pitch of her stomach that could only mean trouble and she wanted to know he was fine for now. She leaned back and let her fangs out, veins showing around her eyes. He looked at her fascinated, always allured by how much both her and Katherine's face could change in seconds. She bit her wrist and held it out to him._

_"Are you sure?" he hesitated, knowing she was never too happy about feeding him her blood, and bringing it to his mouth once she nodded. She did the same with his wrist and a few minutes later, she moved her arm away from him._

_"That is enough." She stated, smiling when he quickly stole a kiss from her._

**_Present day._**

"That was the morning of the day you died and vampire blood stays at least 24 hours in your system." She shrugs.

"Is that why you came back? Because you were guilty about turning me?" he asks bitterly and she scoffs.

Right when she's about to open her mouth to speak, to explain that she didn't exactly came here on her free will, that Emily forced her to or maybe just to snap at him for being pushy, the door opens and in come Elena and Stephan.

"Well, look who it is." She muses and gets up, maneuvering around Damon and going to the other vampire. "I'm glad to know you didn't turn into ash."

"Yeah, me too." He smiles as she looks up at him with a warm smile on her lips.


	4. Isobel

_**Chapter 4: Isobel**_

"What?" she snaps as she answers the phone.

"Well, someone's unhappy." Her voice reaches her ears and she fights the urge to groan.

"Katherine, it's been an incredibly hard week. I am emotionally exhausted and I'm late for school." She sighs as she pulls up in the parking lot.

"Well, in that case, I'll go to the point." Katherine says her teasing tone dropping. "I'm sending a friend over, be careful and don't mess it up."

"What friend?" she asks as she walks to where Caroline is with Bonnie. "Please, tell me it's not Isobel. Elena has gone through enough, Katherine."

"Don't tell me you like the little bitch." She snaps and Cass rolls her eyes at her jealousy.

"Careful, your jealousy is starting to show."

"Cass, you're here! We have so much to do and I want to talk to you about the parade." Caroline squeals when she sees Cass approaching.

"Who's that?" Katherine laughs. "Did you become one of those queen bees everyone follows around?"

"Goodbye, Katherine." She hangs up before Katherine has time to answer.

"Ok, so I'm thinking 1800's for this year's parade. What do you think?" Caroline asks once she reaches both Caroline and Bonnie.

She groans as she sits down on the table, the world is definitely against her lately. The 1800's, of course. Caroline couldn't be obsessed with the 50's, could she?

"I believe it's great." Bonnie says. "You know? All '_gone with the wind'_ style."

"Of course, yeah, I love it." She admits and smiles when Caroline's face completely lights up.

"That's great because I need to ask you a huge favor." She starts, giving Cass her best puppy eyes. "I'm minus a girl for the court and I need you to fill her space."

"What? What about Amy?" she asks, her eyes roaming around the cafeteria for a way out.

"She's freaked out and wants nothing to do with the Miss Mystic Falls court. Please, I'm begging you here."

Then her eyes fall on Stefan, Elena and Alaric who signals her to follow them. She starts to get up and brings her bag.

"Fine, I'll do it. I've got to go, now." She mutters before walking to Alaric's classroom.

Ten minutes later, they're all sitting in silence waiting for Damon to come. Elena is staring off to space and Alaric is doing pretty much the same while Stefan and Cass are sitting together trying to understand what's happening. She couldn't believe Katherine would send Isobel to do what she wanted to do.

"Sorry, I'm late." Damon enters the room. "Dog ate my… never mind." He finishes lamely when he sees everyone's somber look.

"What's up with the furrowed brows?" he asks, frowning.

"I saw Isobel last night." Alaric states.

"She's here in town?" he asks and Alaric nods. Damon's eyes immediately go to Elena who slowly lifts her eyes to meet his.

"Did you ask about John? Is she working with him?" Damon demands.

"No." Alaric shakes his head.

"No, she isn't?"

"I didn't ask." Alaric clarifies.

"What about the invention?" Damon starts to walk toward Alaric as he speaks. "The tomb vampires?"

"I don't know." Alaric looks down and so does Stefan.

"Did words completely escape you?" Damon exclaims and Cass deliberately takes Stefan's hand comfortably.

"I was too preoccupied with my dead vampire wife to ask any questions, Damon." Alaric snaps back.

"What does she want?" Damon asks around the room.

"She wants to see me." Elena speaks for the first time since Alaric dropped the bomb on them.

His eyes cloud with concern for a second as they lock eyes. "You don't have to see her if you don't want to."

"I don't really have a choice." Elena answers, hugging herself for a second.

"She has threatened to go on a killing spree." Cassandra explains, bringing his attention to her for a minute.

"And you guys are not ok with this." He raises an eyebrow mockingly.

"I wanna do it, if not then I'll regret it." Elena shakes her head, determined.

"Lena, this is a very bad idea." Cass says, getting up and walking towards her.

Elena looks at her questioningly and she falters on her step for a second. How do you tell a girl that her mother is a monster? That Damon is a saint compared to her? She'll break Elena's heart and she doesn't want to.

"She's not like us." She moves her hands around, pointing between the two vampires and herself.

"I don't care. I want to meet her." Elena repeats.

Later the same day they all go to The Mystic Grill where Elena is to meet Isobel; only Stefan goes inside and the other three have to stay outside.

"We should be there." Damon says as he paces back and forth. Cass rolls her eyes from where she's leaning into a bench.

"Isobel made it clear we couldn't be there." Alaric says next to her and Damon turns around.

"I'm not gonna kill her on a crowded restaurant." He protests.

"Of course you are." She snorts as she kicks some gravel on the ground with her heel.

"You won't kill her, end of." Alaric says. "She's my wife."

Cass turns to face him and raises an eyebrow until he realizes his mistake.

"Was my wife." He corrects himself. "The woman I married isn't there; whoever that is, is cold."

"She turned off her humanity." Cass shrugs.

"See, I don't get that. Stefan's a good guy, you are a psycho but I still see something human in you, and you…" he looks at his student who is looking at him curiously. "You are as human as you can get, except for the heart-tearing hobby of yours."

"You met me in a good year. I'm not usually like this." The redhead smiles. "You can turn it off, like pushing a button."

"Stefan wants to feel the humanity and I'm guessing that little red here is the same." Damon tells the teacher and receives a glare from Cass.

"The problem is that a vampire's instinct is not to feel." Cass adds, trying to make him understand.

"Isobel chose the easy road, no regret, no pain, no guilt." Damon says as he leans on the bench in the other side of Cass.

"If you could turn all that off, wouldn't you?" she asks Alaric, really curious.

"Have any of you?" Alaric asks back, avoiding the question.

"Of course I have, why you think I'm so fun to be around?" Damon answers right away as he gets up and starts pacing again.

"Once or twice." Cassandra answers after some thinking over.

The truth is she never really had the need to turn it off, she was cold by nature when she was human; she usually didn't feel guilt and she could walk around pain and ignore it like it was her most valuable skill. So when she became a vampire and her every emotion heightened, she was surprised there was no guilt what-so-ever. If anything she was more cold-hearted than before; with time she learned to control it and slowly she became more human. She stared to feel a little bit of pity for her victims and started to do something that surprised every supernatural creature in the world who had heard about her: she showed mercy.

By the time she was 300 years old, she was as human as a vampire in a human blood diet could get. She loved, she pitied, she befriended, she hated and she even comforted but when she wanted she could turn into the fear-inducing monster she was at the beginning. In other words, she was perfect. Emily herself had said that. Wait, Emily hated vampires, all but herself, and she wanted to erase them from Mystic Falls.

"Bonnie? Can I borrow Emily's grimore? It's important." She says into the phone once the brunette answers.

"You called, I came. What's up?" Elena asks as she enters the biology lab where Bonnie and Cass have their noses stuck into a book.

"You gotta see this." Bonnie gasps as she shows Elena the grimore.

"That's the device Isobel wants." She says, amazed.

"I thought it was familiar so I looked it up." Cass explains her. "Jonathan Gilbert never actually succeeded in inventing anything; it was all spelled by Emily or me. I did the rings, and the vampire compass. She took care of this."

She signals to the painting of the rounded piece and a little wooden box.

"This is a weapon against vampires, Elena. I don't understand why Isobel could want it." Bonnie adds, shaking her head.

"I have to tell Stefan." Elena says, running a hand through her hair.

"I'll go with you." Cassandra nods, quickly following her.

Outside they both part ways so they can find Stefan faster and Elena unfortunately runs into no other than Isobel.

"What are you doing here?" Elena gasps, taking a step back.

"I'm your mother Elena. I want to be involved in your life." She says without emotion, making fear slowly creep into Elena's veins.

"I don't want you in my life." She snaps, trying to control her fear.

"I get that. You already have a lot of people in your life that you care about. But I've been studying, let's see if I get this right." She smirks a little and turns around to watch the crowd.

"There's witchy friend Bonnie, I'm gonna stay away from that one." She muses as she looks over at Bonnie who is walking by a few meters away.

"Jeremy, sad little brother Jeremy." She then points to Jeremy who is talking on the phone by a corner. Elena follows Isobel's eyes with scared features, shaken by how much she knows.

"Cassandra, of course." Isobel looks over at Cass who is talking with Bonnie about something by the school entrance. "She's a good friend, right?"

"And there's Caroline, obnoxious Caroline. Got all my info from her, she didn't know who I was and yet, she wouldn't stop yapping." Isobel raises an eyebrow at Elena but Elena's eyes are trained on Caroline who waves from where she is fixing the Miss Mystic Falls boat.

"Let's not forget about Matt. Childhood friend, ex boyfriend, blondie's new boyfriend. A lot of connections there." Elena turns to look at her mother and shakes her friends.

"He's not involved in this." She snaps at Isobel.

"He's involved with you." Isobel answers like it's the obvious answer. Somehow it really is.

"Leave, now." Elena demands, trying hard to stop her voice from trembling.

"No. I've friends too. See that man?" she points to a guy near the float. "He's Frank and he noticed the axle's a little rusty and if you put just enough pressure…" Isobel trails off at the same time Frank deliberately jumps into the float and the float falls down, catching Matt's arm under it and breaking it.

The sound of bone's snapping and Elena's shout brings Cassandra's attention, who automatically looks over the commotion that's taking place around Matt. Bonnie gasps and they both run to Matt. Tyler Lockwood—who is super hot, in Cass' humble opinion.—and some other guys she doesn't know are trying to lift the float but it doesn't even budge until Stefan helps them, obviously using his supernatural strength. Cassandra runs to Matt's side in a second.

"Matt? Matt, let me see that." She tells him.

"Cassandra? No it's fine." He shakes his head, keeping his arm close to his torso.

"Don't be ridiculous." He reluctantly shows her his arm and she touches it slightly with her delicate fingers. She takes out her phone and calls 911.

"_991, what's your emergency?"_ the operator says.

"I need an ambulance. There's a 17 years old boy that has his right arm broken. The radius is snapped in half and I think the ulna might or not be scratched too." She tells him and ignores Matt's surprised look.

"Oh, my god! Matt." Caroline takes Cass' place as she gets up to continue to talk to the operator.

"I'm in Mystic Falls High School." She presses the matter.

"_An ambulance should be there in about fifteen minutes_." Cassandra groans and hangs up, knowing that's way too much time.

"The ambulance will take 15 minutes to get here." She informs them and they all start to debate who's going to take Matt to the hospital. She's about to volunteer when something stops her.

"Jeremy! Jeremy!" Elena calls out and both Cassandra and Stefan look around to find that Jeremy is nowhere to be found.

"Where's the device?" Bonnie asks as we all sit in Alaric's classroom.

"Damon has it and there's no way he's giving it up." Cass shakes her head and looks out the window.

"We'll go to him." Elena says, her tone bordering in desperation. "Cass will talk to him, right?"

All eyes go to her and she locks eyes with Stefan for a moment. He lifts an eyebrow at her but she simply looks at him, using him as a distraction rather than an object to examine. Why would he give it to her? There's nothing that really assures them that he will and if she knows Damon at all, which she likes to believe she does, then the only way to convince him to do such a crazy thing would be if someone incredibly important asks him to. Important as in Katherine important.

"I think you should ask him to." She tells Elena seriously and before Elena can protest she adds:

"But he won't give it over if it's dangerous to vampires."

"What if it isn't? You're a witch you can remove the spell." She tells her.

"No." she shakes her head. "She probably wants to use it against the tomb vampires, if we stay out of the way as in, in the boarding house we won't be in trouble."

"what?" elena gasps.

"Yes, Elena. It's not like she'll use it against us, not if she's working for Katherine, we just give it to her and stay out of the way." She explains.

"Why are you saying this?" Elena asks, exasperated.

"Because I want them dead, ok? I want every single one of them dead." She finally snaps.

They look at her for a moment before Elena's and Stefan's eyes go to Bonnie who nods once. After convincing Damon to give Elena the device and assuring him that bonnie could indeed remove the original spell, they agreed to meet with Isobel in the square.

Elena is pacing around the square waiting for Isobel to come, when she feels someone behind her. Turning around, she comes face to face with her biological mother.

"Where's the device?" she demands.

"Where's Jeremy?" Elena asks back.

"Do you really think I came alone?" Isobel asks Elena and tilts her head. Elena looks behind her to find a Frank and another woman looking at her.

"Do you think _I _came alone?" Isobel turns around to see how Damon, Cassandra and Stefan walk up behind her.

Isobel rolls her eyes and turns to Elena. "For god's sake, call home and ask to speak to Jeremy."

Elena dies as she's told and lets out a breath of relief when Jeremy answers the phone. "I'll be there soon, ok?" she tells her brother.

Once she hangs up and puts her phone in her pockets, she turns to Isobel and says:  
"you weren't going to hurt him."

"No, I was going to kill him." Isobel pouts as she takes a step forward, earning a baffled look from Elena. "Don't look for any redeeming qualities from me. I don't have any." She added monotonously.

"You took a risk with Damon, how did you know he was going to give the device to me?" Elena asks, trying to change the subject.

"Because he's in love with you." She shrugged.

The pang of heartache that one sentence sends down Cass' chest is enough to make her close her eyes; Stefan looks down and at the same time reaches for her hand, bringing her closer. This is too much for her, she hates it when history repeats itself and that's exactly what's happening here. She squeezes Stefan's hand and forces her eyes open, focusing on breathing in and out. Damn heighten emotions.

Elena watches all this and her eyes go to Damon to find that he's oblivious to the exchange next to him and is finding the tree next to him very interesting, her eyes go back to Cassandra and her boyfriend and she studies the way Cass leans slightly into Stefan and that's when it clicks: Cass is in love with Damon. She doesn't know how she could've missed it before, the way she defends him, the way she gets every time Katherine and Damon together are brought into the conversation. It's obvious to her that Stefan already knows and, judging by the way Stefan's always talk about her, he's always know and he's been her shoulder to cry on.

Elena looks at her biological mother and walks angrily toward her, she forces the device into her hands with as much strength as she can muster.

"Thank you for being a monumental disappointment. It leaves the memory of my mom completely intact." She spats at her.

She's angry at her for everything. For appearing, for kidnapping Jeremy, for hurting her friend with her words, for everything. For a second, it looks like Isobel is actually affected by Elena's words but her mask is composed in the blink of an eye.

"As long as you have a Salvatore brother in each arm, you'll be doomed. Katherine and Cassandra were smart, they got out… or maybe only Katherine was smart. But we all know you're not Katherine." She adds as a second thought. "Goodbye, Elena." And with that she disappears.

Elena immediately runs to Stefan who lets go of Cass' hand to hug his girlfriend. She looks at Damon for a second before focusing on hugging Stefan and that's when Cass realizes that it's time to go home or she'll break.


	5. Founder's day

**_Chapter 5: Founder's day._**

Elena fights a gasp as Cassandra ties her corset. She is standing in front of the mirror, dressed in one of Cass' own 1800's dresses and is also rooting the day Caroline decided to dress them as 1800's southern beauties. Cassandra is already dressed in her dress and Elena has to admit she looks gorgeous, she wonders if this is what Katherine and her friend looked like when Stephan and Damon met them. If so, she doesn't understand how Damon could've chosen Katherine over her. It's been two weeks since Isobel's incident and she still doesn't know how to bring the Damon topic up, she doesn't want Cass to feel bad by talking about it but she also wants to help her.

Another tug snaps her out of her thoughts and this time she actually gasps out loud.

"Suck it up, baby. Yours is not even half as tight as mine." Cass chuckles behind her as she finishes tying the corset's knots.

"How did you breathe? Scratch that, how are you breathing now?" she asks, trying as hard as she can to take in a deep breath and almost failing.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it eventually." Cassandra turns to the dresser and grabs Elena's necklace. "Final touch." She smiles at Elena as she clasps the necklace around her neck.

Cass stands next to Elena and they both look at each other in the mirror. "You look beautiful, Cass, I wish I was like you."

"Really? Even the hair?" she laughs as she plays with her own dark red curls. "That dress is the same dress I wore the day I got here back in 1864, be careful with it."

Elena nods and they start to go out of the room towards the parking lot where everyone is finishing getting ready. "What about yours?"

She looks down at her dress and smiles, remembering the day with clarity. "I wore this one at my birthday party. The guys insisted on throwing it."

"Come on, brother, calm down." Damon groans as he and Stefan continue to argue. "I'm not in love with Elena."

"Good because she's not Katherine, remember? And Cassandra? The girl who risked her own life for _you_ and me? She's not a toy, either. She's a good friend. Don't hurt her, Damon." Stefan reprimands his older brother.

Damon pauses in his pacing and turns to his little brother. Why would he hurt Cassie? That's nonsense, she's his friend and so is Elena. Why can't they see that? Because she's not just a friend. He's got to admit he's been having feelings towards Elena but they got all mixed up when Cassie came back and started to hunt him again with those beautiful green eyes of hers.

"I know she's not Katherine." He rolls his eyes and suddenly stops, looking as Cassandra and who he assumes is Elena, but could easily be Katherine, walk down the path with their arms linked in the exact same way Cassandra and Katherine used to walk around and wearing the exact kind of dresses they'd wear.

He's stunned by the sight and Stefan turns to look at what has his brother so overwhelmed, the view almost takes his breath away. Elena is gorgeous but the resemblance to Katherine is almost eerie. While Stefan's having trouble finding a physical difference between his girlfriend and his ex, Damon's eyes are done examining Elena and are now trailed in Cassie who is muttering something to Elena and laughing. Her hair is pined back in the exact same way it was when he met her and her green eyes are glittering with laughter, she's gorgeous. He shakes his head and looks anywhere but at her.

"John? Are you sure?" Elena gasps as Stefan explains to her that John could or couldn't be her biological father.

"There are no proofs but I just wanted you to know before Damon dropped it on you in a very inappropriate way." Stefan says apologetically.

"I'm glad you told me, I just hope it's not true." She shakes her head. "And what do I do, go and ask 'are you my biological father'?"

"No, you do what you have to do when you're ready." Stefan consoles her.

In the other way of the parking lot, Cass is walking around not really paying much attention to where she's going when she slams into something, hard. Well, so much for being a vampire. She looks up to meet some gorgeous brown eyes that are attached to an incredibly hot boy.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you." She apologizes, still a little stunned at the hotness radiating off the brunet boy.

"It's fine, I'm Tyler. Tyler Lockwood." He says and she nods.

"Matt's friend, right? I'm—" but she can't finish because he cuts her off.

"Cass Woodhouse, I know." She lifts an eyebrow at this and he blinks for a second. "Not that I'm stalking you or anything."

She laughs and shakes her head, finding it cute how he fumbles with his own information. He smiles at her too and she suddenly realizes she's practically flirting with him but pushes the thought in the back of his head.

"You look great dressed like that." He tells her.

"So do you. You're part of the willow creek battle, right?" she asks, playing along.

"Yeah, it's some weird history crap." He replies, rolling his eyes and thinking he's oh-so-cool.

She's about to answer when an arm is suddenly thrown over her shoulders. She looks up at Damon totally confused and frowns at his smirk.

"What—?" she starts but doesn't know how to finish.

"I've been looking for you everywhere, sneaky." She tells her and then glares at Tyler. "Lockwood."

Tyler gets the hint and turns to leave, not without giving Cass a cheeky grin first. She turns around to look at Damon and crosses her arms, he just plays innocent.

"And now welcome the stunning Miss Mystic Falls' court and their escorts." Mrs. Lockwood says as the Miss Mystic float starts to move.

They all start waving and smiling at the crowd like it's the best thing ever, except for the fact that it's hot and Cass' escort can't keep his hands to himself and they're all over her. One minute on her waist, the other on her hips, then her shoulders, arms. She's this close to turning around and snapping his neck.

"I don't think I'll be able to move my cheeks after this." Elena mutters under her breath, knowing both Cass and Stefan can hear perfectly.

"You and me both." She answers back and gives Stefan a real smile when she hears him laughing.

The parade had finished hours ago and they were all changed into their normal clothes. Cassandra had spent the entire day with Elena and Stefan, not wanting to face Damon at all. His mood swings were giving her whiplash.

"Can you imagine that?" Elena laughs as the walk across the street.

"Oh, God. It'd be awful." She shakes her head at Elena. "A total disaster."

Elena has one of her arms linked with Stefan's and Cass has her arm around Stefan's other arm, so they have to talk over Stefan to each other and he can't help but smile at the view that his best friend somehow always ends up being friends with his girlfriend. Suddenly, Damon is right next to Elena and taking her other arm. See? Mood swings.

"Damon, what are you doing?" Elena asks, confused.

"15 words or less, tomb vampires are here and the founding families are the target. Get her out." He informs them and starts to walk out.

"Wait, where are _you_ going?" Cass calls after him.

"That's more that 15 words, Cassie." He glances at her over his shoulder and keeps walking away.

"Jeremy's somewhere." Elena's breathing quickens.

"We'll find him, don't worry." Stefan assures her and they all walk away to find Jeremy.

Around ten minutes later, they still can't find Jeremy and Elena is starting to freak out. None of them know where to look and that's when she feels it, the blinding pain that pierces through her skull like thousand needles. She stops for a moment and her hand goes right to her forehead. She watches as Stefan falls to his knees in pain and how Elena kneels down beside him, trying to help him but not knowing how. She sees Elena's pleading face begging her to do something but she can't hear or speak through the pain. Then Alaric is there with a hand in her back, slightly pushing her forward and helping Elena with Stefan.

They stumble down the stairs that lead to an empty hallway and both Stefan and Cass sit down as the pain finally goes away. She can hear again and her sight finally comes back.

"I don't know what happened, he just dropped." Elena says worriedly to Alaric.

"He's not the only one; the cops are injecting them with vervain and taking them away." Alaric explains to her.

Cass looks up from her hands and runs a hand through her hair to get it out off her face. They're gathering the vampires, just like in 1864. Once she's taken a deep breath in and is sure her voice won't tremble, and that she won't throw up, she says:

"It's the device."

They look at her like she's lost it and Elena starts to shake her head, already in denial.

"That's impossible, Bonnie unspelled it." She tells Cass.

"No, no, think about it, Elena." Stefan speaks for the first time and Cass knows he already feels fine. "You asked Bonnie to unspell something that was supposed to be harmful to vampires, you asked her to do something her own teacher wouldn't do."

"Then that means they'll kill them?" Elena asks.

That's exactly what they'll do, take every one last person who falls to the floor in pain, inject them with vervain and probably burn them to death. No vampire will be spared and she silently thanks whoever will listen that all the important people are here. That's when Cass suddenly gets up and looks at the three of them, she wears a scared expression and Stefan starts to worry and gets up too.

"Where's Damon?" she demands and waits for an answer. When she gets none, she turns to Alaric. "Where is he, Ric?"

He remains silent and starts to think, when was the last time he saw Damon? No matter how he tried he couldn't be sure. Then he remembered him saying something about going after John or something.

"I don't know he went to see John and—"he starts to say but can't finish because Cass is already talking.

"We have to find him, _now."_

Elena starts to shake her head and looks at Stefan, worried. He starts pacing, thinking of every outcome of them going out to find Damon.

"I'm sure he's fine, I mean it's Damon we're talking about." Elena comforts her friend but she won't have it.

"No, _Elena_, I won't believe he's fine until I see it. Got it?" she snaps at Elena who takes a step back.

She knows she's being obvious about her feelings right now, but she also knows that Stefan knows and so does Elena—otherwise she wouldn't tip-toe around the topic like she does.—and if Alaric didn't know then he's blind. She doesn't care that a vampire shouldn't be as obvious about their feelings as she is being now but she's worried, she didn't get him back to lose him again.

"She's right; we promised him nothing would happen. We've got to find him." Stefan says, putting a hand on his girlfriend's back.

"But what if they get you?" Elena asks, watching her friend's reaction who groans in frustration.

The two men remain quiet as Elena and Cass have a staring contest. Elena is clearly daring her to say it, to finally admit it out loud and Cass is practically cursing her for it. She finally looks away and runs a hand through her now-messy red hair.

"I love him, Elena." She admits.

Elena blinks up at her, shocked over the fact that she did say it, and nods. She's about to tell them to start looking but Cass keeps talking.

"And I know he'll never love me, all right? Because he loved Katherine when I had my first chance and he's loved her ever since and, according to Isobel, he loves you now. But I love him and I can't lose him." She shrugs, biting her lip.

"Let's go find him." Stefan says and they start to walk up the stairs. "We'll find him." he adds to Cass, squeezing her hand.

After a while, they finally hear all the vampires screaming and run to the place the noise is coming from. It's in Elena's dad's old office, and the place smells strongly of fire and smoke. They follow Elena's direction and enter from behind, right to the basement. Stefan enters the building first but Bonnie stops Cass and Elena from entering.

"You'll die in there." She tells her but Cassandra shakes her head.

"We're not letting him die, Bonnie." Elena shoots back.

Cassandra enters the building and finds Stefan struggling with the door; she takes his hand away and focuses on the raging fire inside the basement. She can feel her power working and signals Stefan to open the door, he does and is surprised to find the fire was extinguished in enough places so he can go down, get his brother and be out of there in less than a minute. And that's exactly what he does; finding his brother isn't hard, he's right in the center of the room where the flames hadn't gotten to yet and he's already trying to stand up. He flashes to him, helps him and then flashes back up the stairs in less than a minute, just as predicted.

Once Stefan is back with Damon, Cassandra releases the fire and leaves the rest of the vampires to burn. She walks out of the building to meet with the others, Stefan and Elena are hugging while Damon is coughing and Bonnie is just standing there with a guilty expression. She walks up to her and grabs her arm forcefully.

"How could you, uh? I trusted you with our lives and this is what you do?" she spits at her with anger and betrayal. Bonnie looks up at her in fear as she tries to release the hold the vampire has on her. "After everything I've done for you, after everything I've taught you. You owed me, Bonnie! And you almost killed us all." She's hissing at her by then and her fangs are out.

She doesn't care about someone passing by because they're in a dark alley and they're the only ones there. Stefan calls out to her but she ignores him, she's not done with Bonnie yet.

"I couldn't do it, Cass. I couldn't let them live, and neither could you." Bonnie, in an incredible rush of bravery, shoots back.

"But that's because I'm selfish, I wanted them dead because I hated them. That doesn't mean I wanted _Damon_ dead—or Stefan." She shakes her head, her face going back to normal, and lets go of Bonnie's arm.

She's exhausted, she's emotionally exhausted and she just wants to go home, curl up in her bed and close her eyes, disconnect from the world for an hour or two without having to flip the switch.

"I'm sorry, Cass. _Please._" Bonnie begs, realizing she crossed the line here and not wanting to lose Cass' friendship.

"You lost my trust, Bonnie." She says with a hurt edge to her voice.

Katherine Pierce walks up the Gilbert's front lawn, planning on pretending to be Elena for a little while; maybe she'll even have some fun while she's at it. She even bothered to steal Elena's clothes from earlier. Just as she's climbing up the stairs that lead to the front porch, no other than Damon Salvatore walks out of the door and she has to fight a devilish smirk. Wanting to prove how good her imitation is, she frowns and asks in the same annoying tone Elena would:

"What are you doing here?"

He looks up and shrugs. "Failed in a feeble attempt of doing the right thing…" he goes to take her bag of clothes and put it on the rail.

Once the clothes are securely on the rail, he turns to her and takes a step closer toward Katherine, obviously thinking she's Elena.

"I came into this town wanting to destroy it, tonight I found myself wanting to protect it." He tells her, furrowing. "How does that happen?"

She acts like she's pondering the question when in reality she's trying to figure out who this person is. She hasn't seen this side of Damon in a very long time and is slightly confused. Where's the man who is merciless and kills for the fun of it? Where's the man who has always been afraid of admitting weakness? Where's the man who flicked his humanity off the minute he saw things were getting difficult? He's certainly not here. What is wrong with her doppelganger? She's turning vampires into kittens, First Stefan, then Cassandra and now Damon.

"I'm not a hero, Elena… I don't do good, it's just not in Me." he tells her sadly and she almost feels bad. Almost, besides that she's just bored.

Either way, she decides to play along and shakes her head, saying: "yes, it is."

"No, that's reserved for Stefan and for you and Bonnie… and even Cass. She saved me tonight…" he shakes his head. "But that's mostly because you asked her to. And that means that somewhere along the way you thought I was worth saving and I wanted to thank you for that."

Katherine frowns slightly, so slightly it's not even noticeable to Damon but she can feel the smallest pressure between her prefect brows. See, that's what happens when you go away for some time and leave people to do your dirty work. Damon wasn't supposed to be in that fire but somehow he had almost died there. Thank god Cass is still in love with him, she doesn't want Damon dead yet. He's still useful for her in the future.

"You're welcome." She tells him as he leans in and gives her a small peck on the cheek.

Neither of them moves and he takes that as some kind of invitation because in a second, he's kissing her. This is more like the Damon she remembers, she thinks as she kisses him back. It looks like the fun started faster than she thought.

She grasps his shirt as his hand tangles itself in her perfectly curled hair. They kiss again and again, both fighting for dominance but it's an even competition. This is new to her, the last time she kissed him he would let her take dominance but now he wants it. She can't deny it's good. And the fact that he believes he's kissing Elena, the fact that she's playing with Elena's happiness? It makes it feel even better. She knows Damon will want to talk about Elena about this and that eventually Stefan will know, bringing havoc into his relationship with Elena and opening the door for Katherine. The only bad thing about this whole plan is that Cass will be heartbroken but it wouldn't be the first time and Katherine knows her friend is strong and will be able to pick up the pieces again.

That's when the door opens and Jenna appears with a frown, she says some things Katherine doesn't really hear and then mutters the words she's been waiting for:

"It's late, you should come in."

She disentangles herself from Damon and, with a smirk, enters the house as Jenna leaves. Well, this is going to be extra fun.


	6. The return

**_Chapter 6: the return._**

**_1864._**

_It was late into the night and, given there's no moon in the sky; it was incredibly hard to see, at least for a human. Seeing as though she was a vampire and a powerful one, she could see as clear as day; this was her favorite time of the week: hunting night. When it was dark and no human could see her approach, when they could only hear her and fear ran through their veins. It was the only time when she allowed herself to embrace the deathly demon she once was, it was the only time she felt free._

_As she drew the man in her arms dry, her mind was on the sweet taste of the blood that cascaded down her throat and into her system, nothing else mattered. Not the animals around, not the single thread of blood dripping from the corner of her lips down her chin and neither did the other human who was some trees away and whose heart was beating erratically, she'd eat them too anyway._

_Dropping the man's corpse to the ground, she lifted a white hand to her chin and used it to bring the thread of blood to her mouth and off her chin. Her eyes closed in content when the last drop of the sweet liquid reached her throat and calmed the ever-present thirst and hunger she felt. The slightest intake of breath made her open her eyes, her face changing back to normal in milliseconds._

_"May I ask what you are doing here?" she asked the human figure that was behind a near tree. _

_The man jumped up, alarmed, and walked up to her. His clear blue eyes looked a little darker and his black hair was fixed perfectly. Seeing her in such nature had startled him deeply, never had he imagine that such adorable creature like herself could be such a ruthless, gorgeous and incredible monster._

_"My apologies, Miss Cassandra, I was—"he started to say but Cassandra interrupted him._

_"What have I told you about the miss? When we're alone you can call me whatever you want, Damon." She told him with coldness so out of character for her that he took a step back. They started to walk side by side but he couldn't help but stare at her._

_"Why are you looking at me like that?" she wondered, the coldness disappearing from her eyes like it had never been there._

_"You look different, that is all." He muttered._

_"It's not like you haven't seen a vampire before, you are with Katherine all the time." She giggled, amused at her best friend's antics. The poor boys were so infatuated with Katherine and soon enough, if Katherine fully allowed her into their fun game and sent both men into her chambers and not just one, they'd both be infatuated with her as well._

_"How could you know?" he asked, looking at her with wide eyes._

_"I have vampire hearing, or do you not remember?" she laughed at his ignorance and shook her head. _

_"How old are you? Sometimes you look so young but others, you look like you've see the entire world." He told her after a while and she stopped, not expecting the question._

_They turned to look at each other, standing too close to be considerate acceptable but neither moved. The moon had appeared out in the sky, the dark clouds taken away by the cold breeze, and now he can see perfectly. Her eyes shine more with the silver light of the moon and so does her incredibly white skin._

_"I was 18 when Katherine turned me in 1498 and she was 19 when she was turned. I guess you're right in a way, I _have_ seen everything and yet there so much more to see." She explained to him._

_"how did she turned?" he asked, curious as to how the woman he was sure he was closed to loving had turned into a creature of the night._

_"Hasn't she told you? Then I must not tell you." she denied and he frowned, opening his mouth to learn more but she silenced him with one look._

_"I won't betray her, my loyalty to her goes as far as her loyalty to me."_

**_Mystic Falls, Present Time._**

The drive to the hospital takes her a little more than five minutes but she doesn't think too much about it, instead she looses little to no time in finding Bonnie and Elena, who is still wearing her clothes from the carnival and her hair's still curly.

"Elena, Bonnie, what news do you have?" she asks quickly, forgetting for a moment that Bonnie and her aren't on talking terms.

"She's not good, they're not sure if she can make it. Isn't there anything either of you can do? You're… you know what…" she drifts off, not knowing how to say witch without bringing attention to them.

"Elena, there's nothing in any of my books and even if there were…" bonnie starts but someone else cuts her off.

"You don't know how, you're not Emily." Damon says as he approaches them and Elena's eyes fly to Cass but she avoids both her and his gaze.

"No, but I still know how to take down a vampire. That spell is easy." She threatens him, glaring at him through her judgy little eye that always made him want to roll his eyes.

"I can give her some blood." Damon says to Elena with something in his eyes that's almost close to pleading.

"No way, what if something happens? We can't take that risk." Elena shakes her head.

She wouldn't be able to bear the thought of her best friend being turned into a vampire and, by definition, into this mess that has become her life.

"Just enough to heal her, it'll be out of her system by tomorrow." He presses.

"A lot can happen in a day, Damon." Cassandra turns to him, talking to him for the first time.

She'd rather Caroline died than having to explain to her the horrors of being a vampire. She had made the same mistake 145 years ago when she fed Damon her blood, she didn't see how anything would happen to him in a day or a little more, it wasn't like he was going to battle or anything. Elena watches as Damon takes a step forward, about to answer, and braces herself for the argument that's about to come when Damon stops on his tracks. Something clicks in his mind and he nods once, not saying a word.

"Do it." Bonnie says and three pairs of eyes turn to her. "It's Caroline, you guys."

"If I do this, you and I, we call it a truce?" he tries to negotiate but Bonnie's shaking her head before he can finish.

"You'll do it anyway." She smirks. "For Elena."

Cass' phone rings right then and she's very thankful for it because it means she won't have to be part of the conversation that reminds her that she not the one he wants.

"Hey." She mutters, not wanting to be heard.

"_Where are you?" _Katherine Pierce demands from the other end of the line and Cassandra shushes her quickly.

"Shut up." She drawls, walking out of earshot. "I'm surrounded by vampires, you know, and word has it their hearing is very good."

_"Ugh, whatever. Where are you? You're not home." _She pouts into the phone and Cassandra stops for a second, looking around to make sure nobody can hear her.

"You are here?" she whisper-shouts, a look of horror passing through her face for a moment.

"_Maybe… why?" _ Katherine asks innocently and Cass rolls her eyes. "_How is john doing?"_

"Wait, Elena said someone stabbed him.—it was you, why?"

_"Dramatic entrance… I was bored, I still am." _She whines and Cassandra smirks, shaking her head.

"Go find someone to play with, will ya?" she laughs. "I'll see you around."

_"Not if I see you first."_ Katherine laughs and hangs up.

Around an hour later, Cass, Damon and Elena enter Elena's house to find Stefan on the floor, trying to get up. Elena rushes to his side, putting a hand on his shoulder once he's fully standing and looking up at him with concern.

"Stefan? What happened?" she questions.

Damon studies the room; it looks like some things have been knocked away from their original place. It doesn't take him long to figure out there's been some sort of physical struggle in this room, and it doesn't take him long to discover who took part in it either.

"Katherine happened." He and Cassie say at the same time, receiving a terrified look from Elena.

Elena shakes her head as she hugs her arms. She sits at the kitchen table, leaning her elbows in it. Damon is leaning against the kitchen bar and Cassandra leans against the wall, her boyfriend just passes.

"Did she say what she wanted?" Damon asks his little brother, harshly.

"No, she didn't." he mutters.

Damon looks around and muses: "well, she certainly knows how to make an entrance."

"That's not news." Cassie says as she pushes herself away from the wall and walks toward Stefan, she puts a hand in his shoulder and keeps him from walking. "Stop it, you're making me dizzy."

"She said—she said she, at least, got to fool one of us. What does that mean?" Stefan questions.

Cassandra shrugs and walks to the kitchen counter, lifting herself up so she's sitting in it. Damon hesitates for a second before carefully saying:

"She pretended to be Elena earlier." He frowns and a broody look possesses Stefan's features.

"Wait, wait." Cass jumps in. "she was here, earlier tonight?" Damon nods and she continues. "With… you?"

Damon nods again and her eyes go to Elena for a second and then back to him. _Because he's in love with you._ Isobel's words to Elena come to her mind and she slowly connects the dots. Oh, no. at least that would explain his odd behavior.

"What are we going to do?" Elena asks, worried.

"Move." Damon jokes, receiving glares from the couple in the room.

"If Katherine wants you dead you'd be dead. There's nothing you can do about it." He continues, this time more seriously.

"But she's not dead." Cass chips in again, this time with uncanny cheerfulness. "That only suggests she has other plans." She explains to Elena, trying to comfort her.

"Speaking of, have you talked to your not-so-nice bitch of a friend?" Damon interrogates her and she rolls her eyes.

"No, I haven't." she lies smoothly.

"Well, do it. Try to find out what she wants." Stefan orders and she can't help but raise an eyebrow his way.

"I'll try, all right. But you have got to promise you will not provoke her." She points a finger at Damon who rolls his eyes in annoyance.

"What happened tonight, when she pretended to be Elena?" Stefan asks suddenly, walking closer to his brother. He avoids eye contact and Cass bites her lower lip, knowing full well that what went down between the two cannot be good.

Elena perks up at this question, curious. Damon had said something to her about having to talk about what had happened at the porch, and that he couldn't forget it because they had… she can't even think about it.

"To cause another frown line in a very crowded forehead…" Damon trails off, a smirk covering his features, as he makes his way to his brother. "We kissed."

Stefan's vision blurs with rage as he glares at his brother with hatred. Cassandra has never seen him give someone such a cold look; her eyes meet Elena's who sends her a silent plea: _stop this._ She considers the idea before sitting back and deciding to enjoy the show. She's suffered enough, it's time there's some drama around here that does not involve her directly.

"What do you mean you kissed?" Stefan asks slowly, making Damon's smirk widen.

"Oh, you know, brother, when two lips pucker and—"he starts to make kissing sounds and Cass has to press her hand to her mouth to stop her giggles.

The giggles go away pretty fast, though, because in a second Stefan charges at his brother who moves in vampire speed toward Cass and pushes her off the counter, positioning himself behind her. She shakes her head exasperated and moves again, this time grabbing Damon by the neck of his leather jacket and bringing him forward.

"Don't get ugly, Stefan." He says as he faces his little brother.

Stefan goes to charge again but Elena interferes, realizing Cass has no intentions to do so, and put a hand in Stefan's arm.

"He kissed Katherine, not me!" she says quickly. "I wouldn't do that." She shoots Damon a nasty look before facing her boyfriend again.

"We don't have time for this." Elena continues to scowl them as if they were kids and Cass rolls her eyes. "John must know something about what she wants; otherwise she wouldn't have tried to kill him."

"She's Katherine, Elena. She loves games." Cassandra explains, tiredly. "She probably just wanted to scare her doppelganger, meaning you."

"And you two are only fooling yourselves if you think you'll be able to figure out what she wants before she wants you to know." Damon says, moving a finger between Elena and his brother.

"Elena's right. We could ask John, he had contact with Isobel who had contact with Katherine." Stefan suggests.

"I have a better idea." Damon comments, a smirk in his features and his brother immediately knows it's not a good idea.

"Oh, yeah? What's that?" Stefan shoots back.

"I'm just gonna ignore the bitch."

"Is that smart?" Elena asks, stepping back from her boyfriend's arms and looking at him.

"If Katherine feels she's being ignored, it'll lure her out. She'll make a move." He explains to the brunette with a roll of his eyes. The two young vampires hear a suppressed sigh from the back of the room but choose to ignore it.

Cassandra has been watching the whole exchange without making a comment; she really doesn't see why she should speak. At first she found it amusing how they are all trying to figure out what to do with Katherine when in reality the answer is quite simple: leave Katherine alone, don't even try to figure it out. Just let things go at their own tempo. But now, she finds this arguing incredibly boring and annoying. Stefan is over thinking this way too much and Elena is acting way too much like Katherine when she's acting innocent for Cassandra's liking. Damon, well, he's trying to cover up his hurt by winding Stefan up and Stefan's stupid enough to fall for it. She scoffs. It's unbelievable how she's reencountered with this people for the first time in 145 years little than a month ago and, yet, she's perfectly able to read their emotions perfectly if she puts her mind to it.

"And then what do we do?" Stefan asks again, this time sarcasm drifting from his voice.

"Stake her, set her on fire." Damon shrugs. "Something poetic."

"You're not gonna kill her." Cass says suddenly, stepping forward and looking at the three of them. "And what makes you think you know how she operates? What makes you _believe _she'll do what you're saying?"

She angrily directs the last part at Damon who remains impassive. He glares down at her, icy blue colliding with striking green, but this time she doesn't recoil like the last time.

"I know her." He says, matter-of-factly.

"No, you don't." she hisses at him, her chin goes a little bit out, challenging him. "Just because you have spent 146 years pinning and obsessing over her since day one does _not_ mean you know her, it just means you're a needy idiot who couldn't and can't even realize she never loved you." she snaps at him, eyes blazing, and finally lets what's been bothering her out.

She realizes she might have crossed the line when a flash of pain crosses his eyes for a nanosecond, but in a blink it's gone, hidden behind that ten meter high wall that lays between them, between him and the world and that she can't seem to be able to tumble down completely. _You won't do it by yelling at him._ Her subconscious hisses at her but she ignores it.

"I'll do as I please. And I'll get rid off of anyone who gets in the way." He says slowly.

"Then I'll have to get you out of the way first." She tells him and Elena's heart skips a beat in fear.

"Not if I get to you first." He snarls and she smirks, making him blink. That's not the reaction he was waiting for.

"I'll be waiting for it, then." With that she turns around and starts to walk to the door, making it obvious to everyone that she won.

"She's selfish, Cassandra. What makes you think she won't betray you, uh?" he calls after her.

The redhead stops for a second before looking over her shoulders and saying:

"My loyalty to her goes as far as her loyalty to me, Damon."

With that she's out of the room.

"Aren't you going to go after her?" Elena demands, earning a scoff from him.

Rolling his eyes, he's out of the room but not after her. That sentence brings back a specific memory. She had said that to him but ten months later she was accusing Katherine of not treating him right. She was on his side then, maybe she'll be on his side this time too. With a little convincing.

The next day, Mayor Lockwood's memorial is held. The four of them go, even though Damon and Cassandra are still not in speaking terms and Stefan and Elena have to do a little detour to the hospital to talk to John. What none of them expect is Katherine Pierce making an appearance. She is the first to encounter her, leaning onto the rail and looking at the huge back garden.

"Well, _Elena_. I never thought you'd be here this early. How's John?" she comments casually.

"Cass," Katherine says, making a good imitation of Elena's sympathetic voice. "He's not so good."

"Of course he's not. That bitch got him good." she smiles sweetly at her, enjoying how Katherine's eyes squint lightly.

"Yeah, Katherine's just…" the brunette struggles to find a word her stupid doppelganger would use and eventually drops the nice act, smirking at her friend. "Ok, what gave me away?"

"The hair." She shrugs as she steps forward and they hug. "I missed you, Kat."

"I missed you, too, Red." Katherine muses but then turns serious. "Did you do it?"

"Jesus, Katherine, not here." She hisses, right as Bonnie storms in.

"Damon is so frustrating sometimes. He's acting all heroic because he saved Caroline when in reality he's just an ass." She rants to Katherine, believing is Elena, when suddenly she sees Cassandra.

"Cass, I didn't—I didn't know you were here." Bonnie stutters and Katherine raises an eyebrow but she sends her a look._ Later._

"Bonnie, you're right. What Damon has done is just horrible." Katherine says, sounding like a complete victim and just like Elena does when she's feeling guilty.

Bonnie relaxes visibly and shakes her head, smiling slightly at Katherine and still trying to ignore her teacher without making it too obvious.

"Forget it, I'm a little cranky." She laughs nervously, and reaches out to Katherine. "So, what's up?"

When her skin connects with Katherine's arm, she gasps and lets go immediately. The two vampires share a look and Katherine's smiles falters slightly.

"I forgot I had to help Matt with something, I'll see you guys later." Bonnie rushes into the house.

"I guess you won't let me deal with her." Katherine begins, her smile falling and a I'm-going-to-hunt-you-down-and-enjoy-it look domineers her feature.

"Nah, do what you want." She shrugs, still sore for Bonnie's betrayal. "Just don't kill her, scare the living lights out of her."

Katherine had already begun to walk into the house, not caring what she said but that comment makes her halt and turn around. Cassandra is standing where she was moments before, her arms crossed and an angry scowl is etched to her face.

"What?" she blinks surprised at the redhead.

"She betrayed me; I want her to learn that you can't mess with vampires." The redhead smirks and Katherine nods, walking into the house.

She always thought that the Cassandra she had dealt with when the younger vampire was turned had been lost forever, but she saw it again in 1864. She's starting to wonder if she'll be able to see her again before the girl dies. She sighs, the idea of Cassandra dying is painful; she will never admit it to anyone. Thank god there is another possible vampire around.

Not fifteen minutes had passed when Cass' phone rings, snapping her out of her thoughts. _Elena Gilbert_ flashes on the screen and she sighs, wondering what could've happened now. With her luck, Katherine might have killed Bonnie. She's surprised when that thought doesn't make her feel guilty.

"Elena." She says into the phone, not even bothering to say hello.

"_Where are you? You know what, never mind, come to the back garden, near the lake and bring Damon. Be quick." _The brunette's voice is frantic and a little scared.

"Wait, Elena! What's happened?" she asks, the slight bit of worry slipping inside her mind.

"_Just come."_ And the line goes dead. With a resign sigh, she walks into the house looking for the man she most wants to avoid.

It doesn't take her long to find him; he's at the bar, how weird, drinking a glass of bourbon. She sighs and stands next to him, not knowing what to say after what happened yesterday but she shrugs it off and turns to him.

"Elena wants us." She simply says and starts to walk toward the door that leads to the backyard. She rolls her eyes when she feels him walking beside her. Of course he'd come, she used the magic word: Elena.

When they get there the scene in front of them paralyzes them for a nanosecond. Stefan is sitting on a bench, his shirt lifted up to his chest and Elena is cleaning the nasty wound that he has on his stomach.

"Katherine." Cass mutters to Damon.

He nods and flashes away, going after the brunette vampire. Stefan then resumes telling the story. Katherine and he were speaking and he was trying to get information out of her, but he pissed her off, getting stab in the stomach.

"That's what happens when you don't perfect the art of persuasion, dear." Cass jokes but then turns serious. "Are you okay, though?"

Stefan nods at her and gives her a small smile. "Yeah, I'll heal."

She shoots him a look and walks to the bench, sitting next to him. That wasn't what she meant and Stefan knows it, but she won't press the subject. Especially if Elena is here.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Elena presses the matter, apparently not getting that he does not wish to speak of it. "And don't say 'it'll heal.'"

"I was trying to figure her out, her game but I let her get to Me." he sighed, glancing at his girlfriend.

Damon walks up to them with a frown on his face, mad at himself for not catching the bitch. When he sees Stefan's wound he looks away, dramatically and unnecessarily covering his eyes.

"Cover up, Fabio. We have a crazy ex on the loose." He mutters. "Look out, seems like someone's trying to steal your guy." He then said to Elena, a smirk playing on his lips.

Elena looks up then, her wide-eyed gaze landing in each one of them but none of the vampires, except for Damon, look at her and their solemn expressions tell her the truth. That Katherine really is trying to steal Stefan from her. Her nightmare is coming true.

"It's only fair, though. I did try to go after your girl." Damon said nonchalantly. He never knows when he's going too far, does he? He crossed the line a long time ago and now he's so far from the line Cassandra bets he can't see it anymore.

"I'm gonna go check up on Jenna and Jeremy." Elena mutters, a little shocked.

Once Elena is far enough that her human ears can't catch what they're saying, Damon turns to his brother, puts his arms in front of him in a fighting gesture and starts to bounce on his feet. Cassandra rolls her eyes at his idiocy.

"So, what's it gonna be?" he starts to say. "Fight to the death?"

He punches Stefan slightly in the arm and Stefan smiles humorlessly. Cassandra rolls her eyes again. Damon just smiles sarcastically.

"I'm not gonna fight you, Damon." Stefan shakes his head, looking at his older brother with a gloomy face.

"Why?" Damon exclaims, lifting his arms into the air.

"Because he's the bigger person." Cassandra suggests casually, earning a glare. "You do know this is what she wants, right? She wants to play you against the other."

The brothers look at her for a moment, Damon scoffs, he apparently still believes he knows Katherine better, and Stefan just nods at her, agreeing one hundred percent.

"Divide and conquer…" she sings, smiling.

"You don't have to worry, sweetheart. Our bond is unbreakable." He says but she's still not convinced.

"We have to stay united against her." Stefan says, moving his hands around to express himself. "So as much as I want to kill you, I'm not going to fight you."

He walks away, clearly trying to calm himself down. Cassandra sighs, how is it that she always gets in the middle of fights? She should've walked away when Elena did but now she's very interested in this discussion to walk away.

"I kissed Elena." He calls after his baby brother, trying to receive some kind of reaction from him.

"Because you feel something for her." Stefan exclaims, frustrated. Damon looks around, not wanting his brother to see that he's actually right, while Cassandra's amused small smiles falls. "Because there's a part of you that actually cares and I'm not gonna let Katherine destroy that part of you that is finally, after all this time, willing to feel something."

Damon glances at his brother for a second before looking away again, his hands on his waist in an I-don't-care-what-you-say kind of gesture. But he did care and one could see it on his icy blue eyes and in his frown. That's when Cass realizes something: Damon might have been a monster when he came here and before that but he never stopped feeling, he was just pretending he had flipped the switch off. Because if she had learned anything in her 532 years of life is that the switch is merely metaphorical. Sure, it's there for the first five years after you turn but then it disappears like it had never existed.

"She'll try to break you, us." Stefan continued, looking at his brother in the eye. "and how we respond to that is what defines us, so I'm not going to fight you." Stefan finishes, sending their friend, who was still sitting on the bench, a last glance before leaving.

"He's right, you know." She finally says. She gets up and stands in front of Damon. "Katherine will try to break _you,_ and she will succeed."

"Why?" he snorts but doesn't stop looking at her.

"Because you're the weak link." She answers immediately, not even thinking about it. If she knows it, Katherine certainly knows it.

"Your point being?" he growls at her.

"That when she breaks you and you're left confused and trying to pick up the pieces," she starts, looking around the house and wondering when was it that the Lockwood's became so powerful.

She sighs; this is not the time to wonder about power, at least not that kind. She's busy but really, she just doesn't want to look at him when she says what she's about to. Reluctantly her eyes go back to his, blue meeting light green like the sky and a mountain. Why does she have to love this moron? Everything would be so much easier if she didn't.

"I'll be there, next to you like I always was. Not Elena, not Stefan and most definitely not Katherine, _me._" she finishes, shrugging. "I thought you should know that."

With that said she leaves, leaving a very conflicted Damon behind.

"I can´t believe you still have this." She smiles at Stefan, lifting Katherine's old picture back from 1864.

"Well, you know… I kept that for reminiscing." He laughs, embarrassed.

They're at Stefan's room, late into the night. Today is Damon's turn to take watch at the Gilbert house so the other two vampires decided to hang out for a while. She had been snooping around some books and diaries, lots and lots of diaries, when she found the picture. It was too good an opportunity to mess with the young vampire sitting on the bed.

"Sure it was. I bet it kept you company in your lonely nights, if you know what I mean." She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively and erupts into giggles when Stefan jumps from the bed and attacks her playfully, trying to take the picture away from her.

"That was never its purpose." He protests, still trying to take it from her.

"All right, whatever you say." She laughs, giving him the picture.

She flops into the bed and looks up, a smile still tugging her features. She can't remember the last time she laughed this hard and that though saddens her. She used to be so cheerful, always laughing about something, always a real smile on her lips but vampirism happened; but then Elijah happened and she was nice again until Damon Salvatore happened and she was, once again, a mess, up until Nicklaus and Stefan happened and she was, somehow, happy again. It was funny how her happiness always revolved around men. If the guy she was with or felt something for in the moment was good to her, she would be all smiles and laughs but if he wasn't, all hell broke loose. She's hoping this time that doesn't happen. Love, she realizes, is her ultimate weakness.

"I have yours as well." Stefan says, flopping into the bed with another picture in his hand.

"You're kidding," she says, her eyes widening. She turns her face so she can see him and he hands her the picture. "Oh, God… this is so embarrassing."

In the picture, she has her hair down in smooth curls and a soft smile plays on her lips. The picture is in black and white, of course, so the red lipstick on her full lips can't be seen but she knows it was there. She always wore it back then, that or pink.

"The ends of the 1800's were not my best decades." She mumbles. "The 1900's, though, oh, I had lots of fun. Especially the 20's."

"The 20's…" Stefan says, grumpily. "Where were you, then?"

"Chicago, all the music and dancing. Lots and lots of fresh blood." she smiles, remembering the old times. Oh, she _did_ have fun in Chicago.

"So was I, but I never saw you." Stefan tells her, surprised. Or maybe not so surprised, the 20's were dark times for him.

"Chicago is a big city, even then." She consoles him, knowing exactly what he's talking about.

"What about the second war? Where were you then?" Stefan asks her, curious. Maybe she has been closer than he thinks all along; maybe he even passed her in the streets and simply didn't recognize her.

"Mmm, the 40's…" she starts to think, 1939-1945. Six long years, those were, quite a mess actually. She was all over the world in that time. "I was in England for a few years, and then I went back to Russia to visit what was left of my family."

"You're Russian?" Stefan asks. He had no idea she was Russian, in fact, now that he thinks about it, he doesn't know much about his redheaded friend.

"Yes," she laughs at his expression. "Well, mom was. My father was British-Scottish." She explains.

"Ah, that would explain the hair." He laughs, ruffling her hair with his hand.

"Hey, it takes me ages to straighten this thing, so don't mess with it." She pouts and he laughs more, making her laugh as well. It's nice to see him do something other than frown and brood.

His cell phone rings and he moves to the bedside table to get it. A smile appears on his face and she knows Elena is calling.

"hey." He speaks into the phone.

"_Stefan, you have to come here, now."_ The smile vanishes from his face when he realizes Elena is crying. He gets up and Cass follows.

"What happened?" She asks him, hurriedly.

"_He killed him, Stefan. He killed him." _ She cries.

_Oh, no._ Damon is supposed to be at Elena's house and if she's babbling about _he_ killing him that can only mean Damon did something stupid, which means Katherine already broke him. That was faster than she thought possible.

"Who did he kill, Elena?" Stefan asks, trying to keep his cool.

"_Jeremy."_ Elena sobs.

Stefan assures her he's on his way and hangs up, turning to face Cassandra, who is staring off into space.

"His ring, Stefan, he has his ring. He'll come back." She rushes to explain before he leaves the room.

"That doesn't mean what Damon did is right." Stefan shakes his head at her, any traces of the smile he had seconds ago completely gone.

"I know, I know. But it means Elena won't loose her brother." She nods, getting up as well.

She walks to the door and down the stairs, Stefan right behind her. She has to go with him, she owes Elena that much. She's pretty sure this is what happened: Katherine hurt Damon, Damon went to Elena with the hopes that she would admit she feels something for her, Elena rejected him, two rejections in one day were too much and he snapped. At this moment, Elena needs as much support as she can get. She stops in her step, however, when Stefan puts a hand on her shoulder.

"Stay, I have a feeling my brother is going to be as broken as Elena is. Maybe worse." He leaves before she can say something.

She walks down the stairs when she hears the distinctive sound of glass crashing against the floor. Downstairs in the living room, Damon Salvatore sits in the couch, looking at the fire. His face is void of any emotion but his eyes are a different story. He's full of guilt and heartbreak and she knows she shouldn't do this, she shouldn't talk to him. He's already mad at her and she doesn't feel like fighting tonight. That's why she simply stays there, at the bottom of the stairs, trying to figure out what to do.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" He turns his head to look at her and she jumps lightly, shaking her head. "good." he mutters and goes back to staring at the fire. She doesn't have to smell his breath to know he's drunk.

Sighing, she walks to the couch and sits down, looking at the fire as well. Ok, she's here, now what.

"Jeremy had his ring; he'll wake up in an hour or two, depending on how long it takes for his bones to heal." She says. "So you can scratch 'guilt' off of your list."

Sarcasm is and always will be the right answer when one does not know what to say, she's been practicing the art of sarcasm since she was a little girl. She can now use it whenever she pleases.

"Great. What do you recommend for my other problem?" He asks her, sarcasm dripping off of his tone. He has also mastered sarcasm along the years.

"That depends, if you're talking about Elena hating you… I cannot help you." Suddenly the mocking tone drops and she turns serious. "If you're talking about rejection… I guess I could say the same thing I always said."

"Mind to remind me?" he wondered, looking over at her.

"I'd say that you're this amazing man who deserves better." She explains, saying the exact same words she used to use.

He opens his mouth, obviously about to retort so she rushes to stop him. That doesn't suit him, anymore. He's changed, everyone is.

"But now, I'll say this:" she starts, considering how to cheer him up. "You're not so nice anymore; you've done things you can't speak of, things I won't remind you about. I'm sure you live them all again at night." She moves so she's a little closer to him, her knee touching his thigh.

"You have this dark side, one that we all have, but one that not everyone is willing to accept. Elena can't handle dark and Katherine has enough of her own to have to deal with someone else's. You have to look for someone who is willing to accept that dark and love you with It." she finishes, a small smile tracing her lips. She's proud of her speech.

He remains silent for a minute, looking at her and wondering how it is that she is able to read him so well, to know exactly what it is that he wants. No one has ever been able to do so, not even the people he pretends they do: Katherine Pierce, then and, now, Elena Gilbert.

He leans in and kisses her, not bothering to say anything, and she kisses back. She knows he's not doing this out of affection but out of heartache, so she doesn't let any kind of hope settle at the back of her head. She simply kisses back eagerly and soon she feels the tip of his tongue asking for entrance, she doesn't even hesitate. Their make-out session soon turns hotter than it should, he pushes off her jacket and she tugs at his hair; they're moving all around the living room, he slams her against the wall, knocking a painting to the ground; she rips his shirt off of him and throws it over her head. They're not thinking and she's okay with that. Thinking leads to bad things. Somewhere between the wall and the piano she loses her blouse and one of her shoes—don't ask how, she doesn't know.—they stumble up the stairs, she loses her other shoe there, and make their way over to his room where he loses his pants and shoes and she takes off her skirt. His lips are every where, in her neck, her mouth, her collarbone, her chest, any possible place, and her hands move from his chest to his arms to his back and all over again.

Their breathing is ragged and her mind is reeling, she can't believe she spent 145 years without his lips in her, without his hands on her. And is then, right before he rips off her favorite underwear, that she realizes she doesn't want 1864 to happen again. She can't be second best again, it's either real or it's not, but for now, she'll just enjoy one last wild night of Damon Salvatore.

_**A/N: hiii, I usually don't do this but I feel like I should. I want to thank all of you for reading and reviewing, I really apreciate it. love you all :) **_


	7. New world

**_Chapter 7: New World._**

She wakes to bright day light and goose-bumps on her back because of the light breeze that grazes it. Slowly she opens her eyes and they meet a stack of books next to the bed she's lying on. Sitting up as slowly as she opened her eyes, she turns to the side to find the sleeping form of Damon Salvatore wearing nothing. She's naked as well. Her undead heart skips a beat.

Her eyes study the room, looking for her underwear. She finally finds it on the floor; she puts it on and starts to look for the rest of her clothes as quietly as she can. The last thing she needs is for Damon to wake now. One of her shoes is on the middle of the stairs, her skirt two steps down. She reaches the living room half dressed and she finds her blouse there. The problem is the other shoe. She can't find it no matter where she looks.

"Looking for this?" a voice reaches her as she's looking under the couch.

She gets up so fast she's sure she would've had a head rush had she been human. Standing next to her is Katherine, with her missing shoe on her left hand. Cassandra rolls her eyes and walks to her, grabbing her jacket that's on the couch. Katherine hands the shoe over and she silently puts it on.

"Had fun last night? Your hair looks like you did." Katherine smirks. "Don't thank me."

"I wasn't going to." She replies smoothly, not even battling an eyelash.

She walks to the door, not bothering to be quiet now. If Damon wakes, well, she'll get it over with then. Once they're outside, she pulls her hair up in a loose bun and gets into the driver's seat of her car. Katherine seats next to her.

"Oh, come on, red. Don't be like this." Katherine pouted. "You know you've wanted to have sex with him since you came back."

She doesn't answer, not wanting Katherine to know she's right. Having sex with Damon was an opportunity she couldn't overlook.

"Did you get what I asked you to?" Katherine asks her.

"Wow, no 'how's your life?'" Cass answers back; her green eyes glare at the doppelganger. "I thought we were friends, I'm wounded."

"Ugh, please, you know I don't have time for that." Katherine smirks. "Besides, I did ask you how your night was."

Cassandra pulls up in the middle of the road and turns to face the brunette. This is unbelievable; she really doesn't have time for Katherine's games right now. It's already 2 P.M., she's late and Elena will most likely kill her for it.

"Well, if you must know, I did find it." Cassandra explains. "It's in the same place you left it."

She unlocks the car and looks at Katherine expectantly, waiting for her to get out. Katherine doesn't even move; she simply stays there, looking bored. Cassandra had looked for the thing Katherine wants the moment she got to Mystic Falls, she found it in less than a week. Her job there is done. She didn't come here to do what Katherine wants; she came her to start fresh and that's what she's trying to do.

"So…? Did you retrieve it?" Katherine demanded.

"Are you out of your mind? There's no way I'm nearing those dogs, ask your pet to do It." she shakes her head, exasperated.

"Already did, he says it's nowhere to be found." Katherine pouts.

"Tell him to keep looking." The redhead snaps and looks out to the road.

Katherine raises an eyebrow but doesn't say anything. Something is definitely changed with her redheaded friend; she's tenser, feistier. Has she flipped the switch again? She sure hopes so, there's nothing more fun than Cassandra with her humanity off, she really knows how to have a good time. The brunette shrugs and smiles inwardly; she's having a very nice time. Everything on her plan is going perfectly. Mason is looking for the stone, the doppelganger is under her sight 24/7 and she has a new toy, which means she won't have to kill Cassandra. Everybody wins.

"I got a new toy." Katherine admits, moving so she's sitting sideways.

"What?" Cassandra frowns. "Who?"

"You'll see soon enough." Katherine smirks as she opens the car door and gets out. "Have fun at the carnival, red." She calls out once she's outside.

"Yeah, bye, Kat." Cassandra shakes her head at her but smiles anyway. She had missed Katherine, she hates to admit. They have been friends for 400 years and it is good to have her back and she does miss a little bit of drama in her life. Everybody knows that where Katherine goes, drama follows. She has a feeling this is going to be a long night.

When Cassandra finally makes it to the carnival, night has reached Mystic Falls. She walks around the place, smiling at some of the kids that actually look like they are having the best time of their lives. Bonnie and Elena are inside, though, talking to a dark-skinned guy who was smiling at Bonnie. She is smiling back up at him, Cass smiles. Bonnie starts to walk and the boy follows her, both of them obviously flirting.

"20 bucks, she gets some tonight… maybe in the broom closet." Cassandra tells Elena once she quickly makes her way over to the brunette.

The doppelganger jumps and turns, her eyes widened. Once she sees it's Cass, she smiles at her friend and throws an arm over her shoulder.

"You are a dirty-minded very old lady." She told the redhead, mocking seriousness.

"Ouch," Cass feigns hurt and then laughs. "So… let's go have fun, all right?"

Cassandra is currently leaning against the wall, in one of the school's classrooms. The place is packed with students, _male_ students, and if she's honest, she's not here just for the view. She's hunting. Damon hasn't left her mind in hours; his kisses, his touch, they come back to her mind all the time. It is exhausting. The only thing she could think of since she went to play some carnival booth games with Elena was Damon. Where is he? Did he wonder why she left? Did he even want to see her again? And the most treacherous of all: does he miss her as much as she misses him?

That's why she excused herself and left Elena with Bonnie and went for a little snack. She didn't kill the guy of course, she simply did the old 'lure, drink, compel' trick. Good thing: she wasn't thinking of Damon that much yet. Bad thing: she hadn't taken fresh human blood in around twenty years, always sticking to blood bags, and that had taken her over the edge.

Now, she wonders how she has spent so much time without hunting. She misses the thrill, the discrimination there is in picking her victim, the fear pulsating through their veins, that fear that makes the blood much sweeter. So, she's hunting again, hoping to have enough human blood in her system so she can turn her humanity off. So Damon fucking Salvatore can leave her mind and, if she's lucky, her heart. _DING!_ The sound of the bell, indicating there's a new loser, snaps her out of her thoughts and her eyes go up to the table where Tyler Lockwood has beaten someone at hand-wrestling once again.

"I bet I can beat him," a familiar voice said.

She turns her head to the side to face Mason Lockwood, who has a smirk on his face. She rolls her eyes and goes back to studying the boys. There's a pretty boy in the far corner who's been looking at her since she entered the room. His blonde hair falls into his eyes and he has to move his head to get them out of there, she bites her bottom lip and enjoys the way his brown eyes widen. Poor boy doesn't know he's about to be lunch. Dinner if one considers it's already night.

"Try." She muses, not tearing her eyes from the teenager.

Mason nods and walks over to his nephew, the two share a word but she tunes them out. Not interested. She watches as the two start wrestling, already knowing who is going to lose, and smirks when Mason slams Tyler's arm into the table, winning.

"All right, he's the champ. Who wants to go next?" Tyler asks to the crowd.

At first nobody answers, why should they? If Tyler lost, they obviously will too. Then someone shouts:

"Stefan will go."

The smirk slips from her red lips and an emotionless expression replaces it. This has to be a joke, he can't be here. This is a carnival, a school carnival, he has no reason to be here. She turns her head to the right and sees him there, standing next to Stefan and wearing all black. His blue eyes are amused and he wears a smirk that drops the minute he sees her. She looks away without blinking.

Stefan and Mason start to wrestle, Stefan using some of his vampire strength but Mason has a secret of his own. Eventually, though, Stefan lets mason win. Damon is fuming. Obviously his brother didn't even try; he doesn't believe his theory that those Lockwoods are weird, bad news.

"You didn't even try at all." He scolds his brother.

"Actually I did." Stefan nods, crossing his arms. "His strength is weird, it feels human but at the same time doesn't. I don't know how to explain it."

"Then don't." Cass says, appearing next to him. "It's none of your business. We've got enough in our plates."

"No, no, no." Damon shakes his head. "What are they?"

"Aliens? Maybe ninja turtles." Stefan mocks.

"No comedic timing at all." Damon says.

"Let's go, Stef, before he finds out we aren't human." Cass whispers before bursting into giggles and walking away with Stefan, leaving a pissed Damon behind.

Eventually Stefan and she part ways and she gets bored, fast. She has done pretty much everything there is to do. She has eaten popcorn, cotton candy and a cheerleader's boyfriend; she has played every possible game and go into the Ferris wheel twice. Each time with a different snack. She is really keen on turning her humanity off.

"I need you to come with me." Damon says.

"Why?" she asks as she eats a piece of chocolate.

"It's really serious; you have to come with me. I already got Elena." He says again and she discovers she doesn't care that much.

Two more people and she'll be able to turn her humanity off completely. She sighs and nods, following him inside the school. This is a great experiment to find out how little she truly cares.

"How did this happen?" Stefan asks after a moment of silence.

Once all of them had arrived to Alaric's classroom, Damon had resumed explaining to them how Caroline had intercepted and that she is now a vampire.

"Well, I gave her my blood and Katherine killed her. A plus B equals…" Damon drawls, an annoying smirk on his lips.

"I told you not to do it." Cassandra shakes her head. "Why is it that I talk and no one listens?"

"Maybe is because your voice is a little annoying." Damon shrugs.

"Oh, no. you've got to stop." She shakes her head, jumping on Alaric's desk. "Seriously, you're having the mood swings of a pregnant woman."

"I'm having mood swings? What about you miss 'I want to eat the entire football team'?"

"Okay, what's going on with you two?" Elena interrupts, looking at them with a suspicious look.

"We had sex." Damon shrugs.

"What?" Elena shrieks at the same time Cassandra gasps. And just like that her humanity is turned back on.

The silence that stretches after that is long and awkward, until she clears her throat and decides to go back to the main topic: Caroline as a new vampire.

"You're sure she said 'game on'?" she asks.

"Yep, and then she walked away like in a bad action movie." Damon answers.

"What does that even mean?" Stefan asks them.

"It means Katherine got a new piece in her game and we're all pieces as well, even if we don't want to." She grunts.

"Why Caroline?" Elena asks.

"Because she's close to all of us. Caroline must be freaking out." Cassandra answers, jumping off the desk and pacing around.

"I don't think so, my compulsion started to wear off the minute she woke up." Damon says.

"We have to find her." Elena demands.

"And kill her." Damon adds.

"We're not killing her." Stefan looks at his brother disapprovingly.

"She's a liability, we have to get rid of her." Damon shoots back.

"We're not killing her." Cassandra shakes her head and stops pacing.

"Shall I remind you of the tragic story of Vick Donovan?" Damon says sarcastically.

"Who?" she asks.

"Caroline is the last person who'll make it as a vampire." He keeps going, ignoring Cassandra.

"Killing her is not an option." Elena insists.

Cassandra looks at Stefan and they share a silence conversation. They both know the first years as a vampire can be tough, especially if the person had a rough personality as a human. She herself was a mess, a ripper.

"No?" Damon asks. "Your silence is deafening, Stefan." Stefan drops Cass gaze and looks at the floor.

"Wasn't a night like this the day you killed Vicky? Talk about history repeating."

"We are _not_ killing her." Cassandra interrupts his mockery, her tone making it obvious that her word is final.

Cassandra walks around the carnival, all of her senses focused on one task: find Caroline before Damon does. Seeing as though she has fed on at least ten people in only one day, her senses are even more heightened.

That's when she smells it, in dangerous big amounts: blood. Somewhere to her right. she starts to run that way, almost running into Stefan and Elena on her way there. Stefan must have smelled the blood too. When they reach the place the smell of blood is coming from, Cassandra curses. Caroline is hugging Damon, who has a stake ready to go through Caroline's heart. Stefan pushes Damon off of Caroline and takes the stake away from his brother.

"Stefan, come on!" Damon grunts.

Elena and Cassandra run to Caroline, who is a crying mess. The moment she sees Elena, she starts to sob harder.

"No, get away from me. You killed me." she cries.

Elena takes a step back like she has been burn; Cassandra sends her a sympathetic look before stepping up and taking Caroline's arm.

"Care, look at me, sweetie." She says in a soothing tone. "It was not Elena, it was Katherine. Elena wouldn't do that."

"Then why did she look like Elena. Why would she do this to me?" Caroline cries.

"I don't know, sweetheart, I don't know." She answers, hugging her blonde friend. She knows how it feels like to not understand why someone would hurt you.

"Stefan, we've got to get her out of here." She tells Stefan, pleading with him with her eyes.

"Yeah, let's go inside." Stefan nods, walking toward them and taking Caroline's hand.

"She'll die, it's only a matter of time." Damon calls out to them.

"But not tonight, it won't be tonight." Stefan answers him.

"Yes, it will be." He answers.

Cass looks back to ask what he's talking about only to see him moving at vampire speed toward them, the stake on his hand. She reacts before she thinks, and later she realizes that's her problem, but right now she pushes Caroline and Stefan behind her, facing Damon. She has always had this urge of taking care of the people she cares about, she'll always protect them. Her instinct simply kicks in. Elena gasps as she watches Damon run the stake through Cass' chest.

"No!" she yells unconsciously.

"You missed." Cassandra mutters as her eyes go down to her chest and back up to Damon.

"Cassie…" he starts, his eyes widened. He didn't want to kill_ her_. He just wanted to get rid of Barbie.

"Shut up and get that thing out of me so I can run _you_ through with It." she says, cursing herself for the tears forming in her eyes.

He lifts his hand and takes the stake, pulling it out in one swift motion, without tearing his blue eyes from hers. She tries to ignore the pain that flashes through his eyes for a moment.

"She's gonna get us all killed." He tells her.

"She's my friend, Damon; I can't just let you kill her without giving her one opportunity." She shakes her head.

"If something happens…" he warns.

"It'll be on me." she promises.

He nods and she takes that as permission to walk away. Stefan is waiting for her, one arm around Caroline. Caroline reaches out for her and she takes her arm, the three of them start to walk to one of the building when they see Bonnie in front of them.

"Caroline?" she asks.

She then takes a step forward and touches Caroline's arm, then her eyes travel to where Carter's body is and she gasps.

"Bonnie…Bonnie, please." Caroline begs as Bonnie takes a step away from her.

Stefan and Cass take her to the bathroom, running the water so they can clean the dried blood from Caroline's face.

"She hates me. Bonnie hates me." Caroline cries, bordering on histeria.

"Nobody hates you." Cassandra shushes.

Caroline looks in the mirror and watches as red and purple veins appear under her eyes, her breathing becomes ragged. Stefan starts to clean her cheeks with a damped paper. Cassandra is rubbing her back and Caroline can't help but think how nice they are being to her.

"Why does that keep happening to me?" she cries as she watches her reflection. "I'm hideous."

"No, you're not." Stefan says as he turns her around to face them.

"Yeah, look." Cassandra says.

Both she and Stefan breathe the remain blood on the air and their faces slowly turn into that of a vampire. Long fangs touch their bottom lip, their pupils dilate and veins appear under their eyes.

"See? We're not hideous. We're just different." Cassandra explains, turning to smirk at Stefan.

"But why can't I change back? I don't want to look like this." Caroline whines and Cass starts to understand what Damon was talking about. Caroline has that type of personality that is incredibly hard to control as a vampire.

"Okay, calm down first otherwise we're going nowhere." She mumbles under her breath, not wanting to upset Caroline more.

Stefan shoots her a look but says nothing to her, instead wiping Caroline's tears and hair away from her face.

"Breath in an out slowly and deeply." He instructs. Caroline does as she's told a few times before her face goes back to normal. "Good, now every time you feel you're about to be out of control, you do that."

"We have to take her home." Cassandra says.

"Yeah, let's go." Stefan nods, helping Caroline to her feet.

Once she gets home, she bursts into tears. Whether they are tears of heartache or rage, she doesn't know. She takes off her ruined shirt and throws it away, wiping away her own tears with the back of her hand. She's a grown woman, for God's sake, this is ridiculous. But having him try to kill her had hurt so badly, of course he said he was trying to kill Caroline but he had promised to get rid of her if she didn't help him kill Katherine. Did he do that deliberately? Would he actually try to kill her next time? And why the hell does she still care? Damn heightened emotions.

She lets out a frustrated shout as she knocks a little table over. This truly is ridiculous, if Katherine were to enter now she'd have a blast. She just wants her humanity turned off, she wants to not care. That's all. So if that's what she wants, then why can't she do it?


	8. Bad moon rising

_**Chapter 8: Bad Moon Rising.**_

"Thanks for coming, Rick." Damon says as he closes the door.

"Something to drink? Bourbon? Coffee? Bourbon and coffee?" he says.

Rick ignores him and walks into the living room where the rest of them are. Stefan and Elena are sitting next to each other, while Cassandra is sitting on the arm chair next to their couch. Alaric sits across from them, his expression solemn.

"Cass said you needed my help." He starts, looking at his two students.

"That we do, because they won't believe me." Cass comments as she sips at her cup of coffee.

"We were hoping you could help us shed some light into the Lockwood family." Stefan elaborates at Alaric's confused look.

"Why would I know anything about the Lockwoods?" rick asks, confused. He's a vampire hunter and, as far as he knows, the Lockwoods are not vampires.

"Well, you wouldn't…" Cassandra starts hesitantly.

"But your dead-not-dead wife might." Damon finishes, taking a chair from one corner and sitting down in it.

Alaric's eyes go down to the floor. Cassandra shoots Damon a glare; she knows he knows Alaric hates talking about Isobel more than anyone. Damon shrugs at her.

"Isobel's research from when you two where together." Elena tells Alaric.

"Isobel's"—Alaric pauses, licking his lips.—"research on Mystic Falls was based on pure folklore and legend. I thought most of it was fiction."

"Like that awesome vampire story." Damon says, wiggling his eyebrows.

"What else? Other than vampires?" Elena asks her teacher.

Alaric looks down, worried about the next thing. These people have enough problems already, adding something else could be traumatic. But they're asking and if they are then something must be already going on.

"lycanthrope." He admits.

"See? Werewolf." Cass tells the others with an I-told-you-so look on her face.

"No way, not possible." Damon protests for the tenth time since Cassandra proposed the possibility of them being wolves. A possibility that she knows is true.

"I've been around here for 160-some-what years and I've never run across one." Damon shakes his head.

"So just because you haven't, that makes their existence impossible?" Cassandra asks amusedly, one eyebrow raised.

He is unbelievable. He had spent twenty-five years of his life believing vampires didn't exist, then he met Katherine. He has to admit werewolves exist, especially if she, the five-hundred-and-something-year-old vampire, says it. It's obvious she has more experience but it seems like Damon's being stubborn.

"Fine, if werewolves exist, where the hell are they?" He asks, rolling his eyes.

"Around, closer than you think. Look, the Lockwoods weren't affected by vervain because they're not vampires, but"—she lifts a finger when Stefan opens his mouth.—"they were affected by the Gilbert device and Mason showed unnatural strength. Why do you think that is?"

Silence fills the room. Everyone knows she's right.

"Okay, so if you know all this, why do you want Isobel's research?" Elena frowns.

"That research has lots of information about vampires, werewolves, magic, Katherine." She drawls, knowing that'll get their attention. "Besides I don't _know_ everything."

"Okay, so do you have access to it?" Stefan asks Alaric.

He doesn't answer. Cassandra gets inpatient, Isobel was—is—a first rate stalker. She's in the possession of much information about all of them, including her. She needs to get rid of it before it falls in the wrong hands.

"Rick, we need to know what we're getting into." Damon leans in. "if this wolf thing is true then I know it's not good because it means that Mason Lockwood is a real life lycan and that Tyler punk is lycan junior, which means bellicose, meaning me, is totally screwed."

"So you're going to Duke?" Katherine asks as she plays with her hair.

"Well, yeah." Cassandra shrugs as she puts her wallet inside her purse.

"Are you on their side or mine?" the brunette frowns.

Cass stops mid-action and turns to face the woman sitting on her bed. That's a very tricky question. Katherine is her friend but she knows she'd kill her if things got complicated and killing her meant surviving, she'd do the same. Stefan and Damon are her friends too and she knows Stefan would never kill her, she's not so sure about Damon. Her hand unconsciously goes up to her chest.

"Today, I'm on theirs." She admits. "We both know Isobel has things we should have, the Petrova book, for example."

"Ugh, don't mention that." Katherine pouts, looking around.

"Come on, you want it and you know it." Cassandra rolls her eyes as she flops down next to Katherine. "Does Mason have the moonstone yet?"

"Not yet." the other vampire mumbles.

"Why do I have the impression that you're waiting until I have it to finally be on my side?" She asks, frowning.

"I'd like to be Switzerland in this occasion." The redhead laughs. Then there's a ringing cutting through the air and she stretches over to her bedside table where her phone is.

"Hello?"

"_You're late as always." _

"Shit, I'll be there in five." She mutters and hangs up.

"You made that on purpose." She glares at Katherine.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Katherine feigns innocence.

"Get out, Kat. You're unbelievable." Cassandra lets out a laugh.

"Call me if you need anything." Stefan is saying to Elena as they say goodbye.

Cassandra fights the urge to roll her eyes. It's not like they won't see each other again. She kind of hates Stefan is not coming, though, but he has to stay and help Caroline.

"Oh, I'll take good care of her." Damon says sarcastically, making Cassandra snort.

Elena gives him a fake smile and leans in to kiss her boyfriend. Their soft kiss grows more passionately and Damon's smirk falls. Cassandra clears her throat and the couple stands apart, Elena's cheeks are slightly blushed.

"Well, not that I don't like watching people make out but, can we go?" she asks, making Stefan chuckle.

"Yeah, bye." He waves.

They all get into the car, Alaric is driving and Damon, unfairly if you ask Cassandra, sits on the passenger seat. That leaves Elena and Cassandra on the back seat, the worst seat of all.

"This whole pretending to hate me is getting really old." Damon says casually around fifteen minutes into the drive.

"I don't think she's pretending." Alaric says, glancing at Elena from the rearview mirror. "You killed her brother."

"And he came back, thanks to a ring I knew he had." Damon retorts.

"Did you? Did you see the ring?" Elena demands.

"Of course I saw the ring; it's this big tacky thing." He says back.

Alaric frowns, looking down at his hand. It's not tacky, is it? He shakes his head. He's falling into Damon's game; he only said that to fix the issue of him killing Jeremy.

"Yeah, right." Elena rolls her eyes.

"Why won't you—" Damon starts.

"Shut up, please." Cassandra mumbles, closing her eyes and leaning her head into the window.

They finally pull up at Duke's campus, where Isobel's office is. It's a warm day but, to Elena, it can't get colder. The three of them follow Alaric into the building, Cass' heart starts to beat a little faster. This is it. This is the moment they discover everything and probably kill her for keeping the information.

"You okay?" Damon suddenly asks her, a hand on her elbow.

"Yes, fine." She lies, avoiding eye contact. "Let's go."

She rushes to Alaric's side, who is talking to Elena, and doesn't look back. Damon frowns but follows her anyway.

"So Isobel was in the Anthropology area, although most paranormal phenomena is rooted in folklore." Alaric explains.

The building isn't comfortable at all. It has dark-painted walls, although Cass isn't sure if it's naturally that way or if the walls aren't cleaned regularly. There is a lot of art around, though, so she supposes that compensates. They walk into a room where a pretty woman with light brown hair and green eyes sits behind a desk.

"Excuse me, hi, I'm Alaric Saltzman." He says awkwardly. "We spoke on the phone."

The girl looks up, startled. A smile appears on her face as she lets her hand out for Alaric to shake.

"Right, I'm Vanessa Monroe. I'm folklore's research assistant." She says.

Then her gaze drifts toward the two vampires and the doppelganger. Vanessa's eyes widen a little when her eyes fall on the man and the redheaded woman who are standing close to each other. They look exactly like the people from Isobel's research. Then she looks over to the brunette and her heart skips a beat. That cannot be Katherine Pierce.

"So the keys to Isobel's office are somewhere around here…" she snaps herself out of it and looks down, looking for the keys.

"I'm sorry," Alaric apologizes. "These are Damon, Cassandra and Elena. They're my friends; I hope it's not a problem."

"Oh, not at all." Vanessa shakes her head. "Isobel's office is right over there. She was one of my first teachers and even the reason why I went into folklore." She rants and then stares at Alaric for a few seconds. _What the hell is with this girl? _Cassandra thinks. This Vanessa chick stares a lot.

"I have to ask." Vanessa apologizes. "Have there been any news?"

"No, none." Alaric lies, his eyes going to the floor and finding the rug very interesting.

"Right, this way." Vanessa directs to another door.

She opens the door and they all enter it. The place's a mess. Dust covers most of the tables; books are all around the place: shelves, floor and tables. There are many bookshelves against the walls.

"Feel free to look around, I'll grab the lights." Vanessa says before disappearing down the hall.

"This is interesting." Damon mumbles to Cass as he shows her a human skull.

"You are sucking up to me." she shakes her head.

"No, I'm not." He shakes his head.

"Yes, you totally are." She crosses her arms.

He fights a smile and leans into her. Of course he's sucking up to her. Not that he'd tell anyone but, the little incident that happened the other day? Yeah, it freaked him out. He didn't mean it when he said he'd get rid of her, and he knows he shouldn't care this much, but almost killing her was a wake-up call. He lost her once 145 years ago and it had hurt. He's not sure he'd be able to handle it again. He mentally frowns. Feelings are weird. He cares immensely about Cassie but he cares about Elena, too.

"Is it working?" he asks her.

"I—maybe." She bites her lip. His eyes go down to it and back to her. "Don't look at me that way." She laughs.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He mumbles, fighting another smile.

He's Damon freaking Salvatore, he does _not_ smile. This woman is going to be the death of him. She laughs again, clearly at his expense, and he actually lets out a chuckle.

"You're forgiven. Happy?" she says, looking up to him.

"Where did she go?" Alaric suddenly asks, talking about Vanessa.

Both Damon and Cassandra look up and turn their heads to Alaric. He raises an eyebrow at how close to each other they're standing but chooses to say nothing about it. Cass looks around and shrugs, turning her attention back to the bookshelf and reading the books titles.

Then she hears a gasp and she turns toward Elena. She's looking agape at something far from her. Vanessa is standing with a crossbow and aiming at Elena's chest. Before she can react, Damon runs at vampire speed towards Elena and positions himself between Elena and the wooden arrow Vanessa shot. Elena gasps again when Damon groans in pain. Cassandra speeds to Vanessa and takes the crossbow away from her, pinning her to the wall.

"Give me a very good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now." She hisses at her, fangs showing.

"Cass, don't do it." Alaric says as he walks quickly to them.

"Why not? She wanted to kill Elena; she almost kills Damon in the process." Cassandra asks, not looking away from the insolent girl or letting go off her hold on her. "Next thing we know, she's killing you."

"Cassandra, stop." He snaps at the redhead.

He puts his hands around her shoulders and uses all his strength to push her away from Vanessa. The vampire lets go off the girl and stands away from her, glaring at Alaric with shining light green eyes that roots him to his spot. This is what reminds him that his sweet student, one of his favorites, is not that sweet. She can be dangerous.

"Go help Elena with Damon. I'll take care of this." He tells her carefully.

"Keep an eye on her." She snaps before walking away.

"Pull it out," Damon grunts at Elena. "Pull the damn thing out, I can't reach it and… it hurts." He admits through his teeth.

Elena sighs and pulls it out in one go, cringing at the idea of how it must feel. Damon shakes the pain away and turns, Elena takes a step away. They both watch as Cassandra walks toward them angrily, green eyes blazing.

"That bitch is dead." Damon tells her the moment they make eye contact.

"Glad to know we're on the same page for once." She smirks.

"Oh, no, you're not killing her." Elena protests.

"Watch me." Damon smirks at Elena and starts to walk away.

"If you kill her, I'll never speak to you again." Elena calls after him.

"What makes you think that has any kind of power over me? Because I took an arrow for you? You're severely overestimating yourself." He tells him, rolling his eyes.

"Right, I forgot you have a psychotic mind and that you snap and kill people impulsively." Elena shoots back.

Cassandra rubs her temple. Their stupid fights are driving her crazy.

"That is enough, both of you." She tells them. "Yes, Elena what he did was awful and, no, Damon, it doesn't matter whether you saw the ring or not. But there's a lot going on and it's about to get worse so, please, behave like adults for once."

With that she twirls around and leaves the room, she smirks when she hears them follow her. They walk back to Vanessa's office, where said girl is being held down by Alaric.

"Okay, I freaked out! It's not possible, Katherine Pierce can't be alive and Damon Salvatore died in 1864—okay, I read Isobel's research." Vanessa says.

"In that case you know how possible it is." Cassandra snaps at the girl, already done with her. "This is Elena Gilbert, Isobel's daughter and Katherine's descendant, _that_ is Damon Salvatore, who you just shot, and I am Cassandra Woodhouse."

She takes a step closer to smiles sarcastically at Vanessa, enjoying the way she squirms under her gaze. That should worry her, right? Somehow she doesn't care. Seems like her humanity is finally turned off.

"If you really read Isobel's research, you then know I don't like getting treated badly." She adds.

"Yeah, and I would be extra nice to me right now." Damon says behind her.

"Look, we need your help." Elena starts, taking a step forward and pushing Cass away slightly. "We need to see all of Isobel's research, especially anything related to Mystic Falls."

"This box contains everything that concerns Katherine's and yours arrival at Mystic Falls." Vanessa tells Cassandra as she puts a box on top of one of the tables.

"That's… all? Really?" she asks, confused.

Isobel was—is—obsessed with Katherine, she should have more than one simple box on her. She does a quick once over of the box's contents and frowns. The Petrova book is _not_ there.

"That's all I'm aware of." Vanessa shrugs.

Elena and Cass start to look around the box. There are some pictures and documents but not much. Elena finds a piece of some dried herb: vervain.

"Here, take this." Elena hands the little herb to Vanessa.

Cassandra stares at her. Elena has definitely lost her mind. She's giving the person who tried to kill her the only thing that stops Cassandra from killing her. Well, there goes her plan on compelling annoying Vanessa.

"Does vervain really work?" she asks, putting the herb inside her shirt pocket.

Elena nods at the same time Damon calls to them: "No, not at all."

Cassandra snorts as she rolls her eyes, receiving a glare from Elena. She pretends not to see it and reads over one of the documents. She realizes with a start it's a handwritten letter from her to George Lockwood. How the hell did this end up here?

"Can he hear us?" Vanessa whispers to Elena.

"No, that'd be creepy." Damon answers again. This time, though, Cassandra bites her lip to prevent from laughing at Elena's face.

"Can he read minds too?" she asks again. Cassandra shoots her a glare involuntarily, knowing exactly what she's thinking about.

"You know, if you want to see me naked all you have to do is ask." Damon teases back.

Vanessa's eyes widened, surprised at getting caught. Elena rolls her eyes for the fifth time since they got here and Cass lets out a small gasp, turning to face Damon and throwing a book his way.

"Sorry, Cassie." He laughs, avoiding the book by this much.

"No, he can't do that." Cassandra comments to Vanessa. "But he's a first rate jackass and not very bright either, if you can see."

"I heard that!" Damon calls out again.

"That was the point." She calls back. To Vanessa she whispers: "See? Not very bright."

The girls laugh.

Elena slams some papers down and sighs, running a hand through her straight smooth hair. They're looking for any document that has the name _Katherine Pierce_ on it, at this point.

"Have you find anything, Cass?" she asks the redhead who is somewhere to her left.

"Nada de nada." Cassandra answers, trying to find the Petrova book but to no avail.

"It's a bummer we're not friends anymore, or I'd tell you what I know." Damon makes a comment from behind Elena.

"Who is manipulating who?" Elena shoots back.

Cassandra sighs as she watches them have a staring contest, the tension in the room growing and growing until it's practically impossible to resist.

"Guys, check this out." Alaric calls, snapping them out of their fight.

"There's no record of there being werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls but here are the records of lesser known legends. From Scandinavian night walkers to the Marsh l'durets. 'Tu de Citli Mesli.' Which roughly translates to—" Vanessa starts to explain, passing the book over to Damon.

"The Curse of the Sun and the Moon." Cassandra completes, looking at the book over Damon's shoulder.

"Is that Native American?" Damon asks.

"Aztec, actually." Cassandra answers before Vanessa has time to open her mouth. "Long story short: the Aztecs were plagued by werewolves and vampires, they terrorized the countryside making farming and hunting impossible, until an Aztec shaman cursed them." She continues, getting slightly excited.

Nobody knows but she actually adores legends, especially those that include vampires. When she was homeschooled, History of Magic was her favorite subject. She loved it as much as she loved any kind of paranormal phenomena.

"The curse made vampire slaves to the sun and werewolves servants of the moon. As a result, vampires could only walk on the night and lycanthropes could only turn once a month, every full moon." She finishes.

She looks up from the book to find everyone looking at her. She fights the sudden urge to flush and looks back to the book. Damon blinks at her but says nothing. He finds mesmerizing the way she gets while talking about this. Her eyes light up and, even though she tries to hide it, there's excitement in her voice. Excitement he's sure he's the only one able to hear.

"Can they control the transformation?" he asks her, wanting to hear her talk again. This time, though, Vanessa answers.

"It would be called a curse if they could. They sometimes attack humans but they usually aim for their prey of preference... vampires." She tells them.

Damon, Alaric and Cass share a look. Today's a full moon and Mason still in town, alongside Stefan and Caroline. That cannot be good.

"If werewolves were hunting vampires, I would know." Damon tells Vanessa.

"The problem is there aren't that many werewolves out there, centuries ago vampires hunt them down to almost extinction for protection." Vanessa explains not even battling an eyelash under Damon's gaze.

"Why is that?" Alaric asks, taking a step closer to the desk.

"Because a werewolf's bite is lethal to a vampire." Cassandra quietly admits, looking down.

"What? Why didn't you mention this before?" Damon hisses at her, grabbing her arm and hauling her to a corner away.

"Because I didn't want you to go after Mason." She hisses back, taking his wrist and forcing his hand away from her arm.

"And why is that? Did you and little wolf have a thing?" he asks sarcastically, rubbing his wrist.

"No, I was actually trying to keep you from getting killed!" she exclaims, looking up at him with sparkly eyes.

"My little brother is there _alone." _He tells her, still pissed.

Her face immediately softens. Stefan, sweet Stefan, is there alone with a newbie vampire. And Mason hates him. She fishes her phone out of her pocket and dials Stefan's number.

"Hi, Stef." She says the moment he answers. "We have a situation."

"_Is Elena all right?"_ he asks.

"She's fine." Cass rolls her eyes. "You, on the other hand, might not."

She tells him what she knows and doesn't hang up until he assures her twice that he'll be careful and go home. She raises an eyebrow Damon's way and asks:

"There, he's fine and going home. Are you happy now?"

He remains silent and she sighs, walking back to the others. Elena is asking Vanessa on doppelgangers but Vanessa doesn't know what to say.

"I just want to know why we look alike." Elena whines, sounding very much like Katherine for Cassandra's liking.

In fact, today she's been acting like Katherine a lot. No doubt the Petrova fire is in her. If Cassandra isn't careful she might start calling her 'red'.

"Too bad we don't have more information on her." Damon comments from a bookshelf as he looks at a book interestingly.

"Are you being your usual ass self or do you actually have useful information?" Elena asks.

"If we were friends, maybe I'd answer that question." Damon answers, smirking at her sarcastically.

Cassandra sends Alaric an exasperated look.

"Thank you for the book, Damon." Elena says as they walk up to her porch.

She doesn't wait for an answer and goes to open door but is stopped by Damon's hand on her arm. She looks at him defiantly.

"I didn't see the ring, Elena. I was upset and I didn't think. I don't know what I would've done if he hadn't been wearing it." Damon admits.

Elena's eyes widen. She's surprised at this. She knew he didn't see the ring, she never thought he'd tell her.

"You hated me before and then we become friends. I'd hate to think that's lost forever." He continues, frowning.

"Thanks for your honesty, Damon. And for the question you made me before, yes, you have lost me forever." She says bitterly.

"You knew that already, didn't you?" he mumbles, his chest constricting at her words.

"You had information I needed." She shrugs, trying to be as cold as possible.

"You and Katherine really aren't that different." He tells her, knowing that will hurt her, and walks away. The pain of yet again another rejection staying with him.


	9. Memory lane

**_Chapter 9: Memory Lane._**

"So, does this match?" Caroline asks her as she puts one shirt over a skirt.

"Please, Care, I thought you had good taste." Cass snorts, glancing at the clothes with distaste.

"Sorry, sorry," the blonde laughs, going back to the closet.

"Why are we going again?" Cass asks, lying lazily on the blonde's bed.

"Because it's a nice way to keep our minds off reality," Caroline replies.

She decides on what to wear and goes to her bathroom so she can change. Cassandra stays there, comfortably. Right about now Katherine must be at the Boarding House, terrorizing Stefan with memories of the past. She rolls her eyes, disturbed at how much like the past this is looking. Katherine with Stefan and Cassandra with Damon, only difference is that for the first time ever, she wishes it was the other way around. Her mind immediately takes her back to the day of the founders' party back then.

**_Founder's day, 1864._**

_"Everyone, will you please join me in raising your glasses to my good friend, George Lockwood!" Damon Salvatore raised his own glass of champagne._

_The crowd turned their attention to the young Salvatore as George Lockwood made his way out of the crowd. Stefan Salvatore and Katherine Pierce watched from a distance, while Cassandra stood right next to Damon. Katherine had chosen Stefan, her favorite brother, as her date which meant Cassandra was stuck with the other. Not that she cared, of course._

_"George, thank you for so bravely protecting the south," Damon continued, glancing at Cassandra before looking at George again._

_"My honor, Mr. Salvatore," Lockwood said as he hold up his own glass. "After all, someone had to do it."_

_The people laughed slightly at his own joke. Damon and George clinked their glasses and lifted them up to the others around them. Everyone copied their movements, Damon also clashed drinks with Cassandra and both took a sip. _

_"Are you enjoying the party, Cassie?" he asked her._

_"Very much so, Mr. Salvatore, thank you for escorting Me." she smiled softly, looking around the place and avoiding his gaze. Her newly and recently found crush on the older Salvatore was growing at alarming speed and she was trying to keep her mind away from him._

_"Are you all right?" He asked her, putting a hand on her elbow._

_She looked up, startled at the worry reflected on his clear blue eyes. With her spirits up-lifted, she smiled at him and nodded, enjoying how his heart fluttered a little when they made eye contact. Right then, Henry walked up to them. _

_"May I have a word, Miss Cassandra?" he asked the redhead politely._

_"But Henry, dear, it is a celebration, enjoy It." she chastised the young vampire._

_"Miss Cassandra, please," he begged her._

_"Very well, excuse me, Damon." She nodded at the black-haired man before following the other vampire._

_"I looked into the attacks from the other night, they're not vampires." Henry rushed, making sure no one could hear them._

_"That is good, Henry, it means we are safe." Cassandra nodded._

_"But, Miss, those folks were ripped apart like I've never seen before." Henry expressed his concerns._

_"In that case it will not be long before the Council starts to investigate." Cassandra said, her lips forming a thin line._

_"We'll leave town immediately, I will inform the others." Henry said, already about to walk away._

_Her hand flied to his arm and stopped him short. He turned to her with confusion. She didn't want to leave, not yet. She wasn't ready to leave and she knew Katherine wasn't, either. And if Katherine or Cassandra said something, people did as told._

_"Relax, Henry. This is our home now and the vampires are almost like family to Katherine and I, we will not let anything happen to you." Cassandra told him._

**_Present time_**

"Cass, hello, earth to Cass!" Caroline shakes her shoulder.

She blinks several times before glancing up at Caroline, who is already dressed and looking down at her with an amused expression.

"Sorry, I got distracted," she giggles as she sits up.

"You sure did, thinking of someone?" Caroline teases her as they make their way out of the room.

Cassandra rolls her eyes at the blonde, closing the door behind her and following to the car. They drive to Elena's house, where the barbecue is taking place.

"Hey, look who decided to show up!" Damon greets them.

Caroline looks blankly at him before walking away, muttering something about finding Elena. Cass only rolls her eyes and goes into the kitchen, where Alaric and Mason are. She smiles at Alaric before nodding slightly at Mason. He walks toward the two vampires and lets his hand out for Damon to take.

"We haven't officially met, I'm Mason Lockwood."

Damon shakes his hand. "Oh, sure, Damon Salvatore."

"I know, I've heard a lot about you." Mason says, his eyes going to Cassandra and back to him.

Damon turns to the counter, where Cassandra is pouring herself a shot, and looks back at Mason with a frown. He hadn't missed the way he glanced at Cassandra.

"Really? That's weird… because I'm a dick." He smirks, causing Cassandra to pour another shot and drink it quicker than possible. Can't she have a normal evening? Apparently, no.

**_1864_**

_"My brother is in love with her," Damon said as he stormed into the room._

_"Of course, Damon, you can come into my room," Cassandra rolled her eyes._

_She closed the door and took off one of her long white gloves, watching as the man in her room paced around. He had a frown on his face and his hands folded behind his back, he still had his clothes from earlier on and his hair was neatly combed back. Taking her other glove off, she threw them somewhere near her bed as she sat down on it. _

_"Care to explain to me why you are so distressed about this?" she asked, amused._

_"Because she is mine," he snapped at her._

_"Of course not," Cassandra scoffed, momentarily forgetting about her manners._

_"She's no one's, we are free spirits." She continues, giggling at the nickname that Spanish man once gave them._

_They had had fun at Spain; those men truly knew how to have a wild night. After they leave Mystic Falls they should go there again. She stopped laughing though, when she noticed Damon's face. He was not happy._

_"You are not a free spirit, how old are you again? And yet, you are dependant on Katherine, in fact, if I did not know better, I'd dare say you're jealous." He said._

_Cassandra blinked, bewildered. Where was this coming from? Katherine was her friend, why would she leave her? Besides, they had parted ways along the years but always ended up meeting again. And jealous? How in hell did he know that?_

_"That is not true!" She exclaimed, standing up._

_"Yes, it is. It is obvious to everybody; Katherine's everything you are not. She's gorgeous and charming and a very nice person and I love her." He stated._

_Silence followed, accompanied by a tension never known between them. Cassandra closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to control her emotions. She was not hurting Damon Salvatore, Katherine would never forgive her, she would never forgive herself. Opening her eyes, she walked toward the door and opened it._

_"I am glad to know what you think of me, although I would have liked to be informed earlier. As for your feelings for Katherine, I'd live to give you my condolences at once," she started, her tone completely polite. Politer than he's ever heard her. "Now, leave my room." She finishes._

_Damon hesitated before taking a step forward._

_"Cassie…" he started but the cold look she shot him shut him up._

_"Good night, Mr. Salvatore." _

_He nodded at her and left, cringing when the door shut a little too loudly behind him._

**_Present time_**

That was the first time they ever fought about Katherine, and it was also the first time she saw the Damon she knows today. That day he had shown him a mean side of him, one she never saw again until she came here again. She smiles as she sees him draw on the big notepad. Sometimes, like now, she can see the Damon she first fell in love with.

"A puppy! A puppy with a… tutu?" Caroline exclaims, a little confused.

"No," Damon sighs.

Cass laughs as she sees Caroline's pout. They have been playing charades, or whatever this game is called, for a while now and Mason's beaten everyone's butt. He rocks at guessing, especially because every time Damon goes up to the board he draws things related to wolves.

"A hound, a hound dog in a circus!" Jenna yells, moving her arms around and pointing at the board as she sits on the edge of her seat.

"No," Damon whines.

He moves the marker around the drawing, trying to tell them what it is without doing so. When he turns around he catches Cassie's eyes and smirks at her. She laughs again, her green eyes sparkling, as she shakes her head at him, clearly knowing what's he's doing.

"Dance with the wolves," Mason calls lazily from the couch.

"And Mason wins, again." Damon drawls, putting the marker down.

Everyone complains loudly while Mason smirks to himself. Caroline kicks the floor, almost throwing a tantrum, while Jenna shakes her head indignantly. Elena even pouts as she crosses her arms. Alaric chuckles.

"Damon, how is that a wolf?" she asks, getting up.

Damon shrugs and nods toward the kitchen. She follows him and decides to put the peach cobbler out of its boxing and into a plate.

"Aunt Jenna is getting tipsy." Damon sing-songs into her ear, making her move away.

"Care to explain to me why you're trying to get her drunk?" she asks, a little judgment in her voice.

"I want her to like me," he mock-pouts.

She rolls her eyes. There's not better way to get to Elena than through her family, Damon clearly knows that. If he gets Aunt Jenna's approval, Elena might start to consider forgiving him.

"There you are," Jenna says as she and Elena walk into the kitchen. "Isn't this fun?"

"Very, thanks again for inviting me." Damon says.

"Did I have a choice?" Jenna snaps, her smile falling.

Cass shoots Elena a look as they start to get the rest of the plates and silverware out.

"I know what you think of me but—"

"No, you don't,"—Jenna cuts Damon off.—"You've never dated you, I've dated many yous."

"So have I," Cassandra comments to Elena who laughs slightly.

"But I'm a work in progress," Damon retorts, ignoring the redhead's comment.

Elena hands Cass a silver cutter so she can cut the pie, she takes it and sends her a smile. Damon walks up to them and opens the case where the rest of the silverware is.

"These are fancy," he says, picking a shiny knife.

"Thanks, they were my mother's silver set." Jenna sighs.

Elena and Cassandra look up at the same time, Elena's eyes widened. Wolves are supposed to be weaken by silver, just like vampires with wood. Damon twirls the knife around as he smirks at them.

"Damon, don't you dare," Cassandra hisses at him.

"If you play by the rules, you miss all the fun. You know that," he says sarcastically.

Elena raises an eyebrow at her, making it clear that she thinks this is her fault. She curses under her breath.

"Mason, why don't you start us off?" Damon asks as he places the cobbler in front of the werewolf.

"Sure," mason replies.

He looks down at the silver cutter and moves the plate so he doesn't have to touch it. Taking a piece of the pie with his hand and putting it on his plate, he smiles at everyone.

"What can I say? I'm an animal."

Cassandra can't help it; she bursts out laughing at Mason's comment. Mason himself chuckles at her, enjoying their private joke, Damon, however, is seething.

"So, Mason," Alaric clears his throat. "You and Jenna ever dated?"

They all take a seat around the table, while Elena and Caroline excuse themselves and go outside. Mason shakes his head, amused.

"No, she was far away in Logan Fell Island."

"My first mistake," Jenna jokes, "Mason, here, had girls lining up."

"Why wouldn't he? He's hot," Cassandra jumps in.

"I'm free tonight, babe." Mason winks at her jokingly.

She blows him a kiss and they both laugh at this. If Katherine were here, they'd both be dead. But she's not here and she enjoys the way Damon tenses every time she laughs at Mason, so they can fool around a bit.

"Wouldn't that be illegal?" Alaric asks, looking between Mason and Damon, whose glare would be able to kill Mason on the spot.

"I'm 18," She protests, looking at her teacher with a smug smile on her face.

"Multiply that by 27 and you might get your real age,"—Damon whispers in her ear before turning to Mason.—"You know that's weird, I had you pegged for a lone wolf."

"Nah, she's kidding. I'm sure I wasn't half the lady-killer you were," Mason shoots back, raising an eyebrow.

Cassandra glares at him through the rim of her glass but chooses to say nothing. If she were to make a comment it would obviously turn suspicious fro Jenna. According to everyone, she just met Mason and has only known Damon for a couple of months.

"Here's to new friends!" Mason says, lifting his beer.

The four adults clink glasses before taking a drink from their bottles of bear. Cassandra sits there, biting one of her nails. Her hearing picks up on the conversation going on the other room. Elena is begging Caroline to take her to the Boarding House, after a moment or two Caroline agrees. Cassandra looks to the other room, catching the distressed look that takes over Caroline's features the moment Elena is out of the door. She feels bad for the blonde; if Elena gets there before Katherine is out, then she's dead.

"No takers for another round of drinks at the Grill?" Mason asks around as he makes his way to the door.

The others follow after him, Jenna and Alaric pausing at the bottom of the stairs. Nobody answers him and he shakes his head.

"Come on, it seems like I'm talking to adults here." He complains.

"I prefer the term 'role model'." Jenna raises an eyebrow at him.

Mason turns to Cassandra, a smile on his lips. She rolls her eyes, a smile of her own playing on her lips.

"What about you? Come on, you're young,"—He pauses and chuckles at that.—"And the night's young."

"Yeah, she's not available," Damon answers for her, putting an arm over her shoulders and glaring at Mason.

Jenna literally takes a step back, glancing between them with shocked eyes. Alaric shakes his head, uncomfortable with how this played out. Mason simply keeps looking at the redhead expectantly, enjoying the way it bother the other vampire.

"It was great meeting you, Mason, see you around." She smiles at him, although it's a little fake.

She's tired and wants to go home. Mason has never been her favorite person and he's staring to get on her nerves. He nods and, after saying good night once more, leaves the house.

"I'm going to take off, too. Jenna, you're a great hostess." Damon says, taking Jenna's hand and kissing it.

"And you're terrible at drawing." She rolls her eyes, fighting a smile.

"Is that the only thing I'm terrible at?" he says.

Jenna pretends to think for a moment, her eyes going to the redhead on the side, before allowing a small smile.

"I'm still deciding." She admits.

"Good enough for me, Rick let's not watch that game next week," Damon points at Alaric, who chuckles, before making his way to the door.

He opens it and turns to Cassandra, who is nodding at something Jenna is telling her. He watches as she leans in and hugs the older woman before sending her teacher a nod.

"Cassie, you coming?" he asks, letting the door open.

"Sure, can you take me home, though?" she asks him as the make they way down the porch.

"What happened to your car?" he gets into the driver's seat.

"I drove with Caroline and she ditched." She drawls, putting her hair in a loose bun at the top of her hair.

Silence fills the car through the rest of the drive. She sighs, looking outside the window and enjoying the peace. Soon, they're pulling up in front her house. She turns to Damon, one accusatory finger pointed at him.

"Don't go after him, Damon." She warns.

"Why would I?" he asks sarcastically.

"Damon, please, you don't want him as your enemy."

They look at each other, both daring the other to look away. He doesn't like this Mason dude and, if he's honest, he doesn't like the way he flirted with Cassandra the entire way. He inwardly frowns; there he goes again with the confused emotions.

"Oh, fine," he lies. She looks at him suspiciously, not convinced at all.

"Promise me," she says, knowing he's lying.

"I promise."

She gets out of the car and sighs. Her job here is done; he's not paying attention at what she's saying, there's nothing else she can do.

"Good night, Damon." She says, before closing the door.

What the hell, she thinks before snuggling into her soft bed. Damon will make a mess today, one everyone may fall victim to, but it doesn't really matter for now. No, now, she's just going to put on some pajamas and watch _friends _re-runs until 3 A.M.

_**A/N: GUYS, GUYS, I'M SORRY FOR THE CRAPPIEST CHAPTER EVER BUT I'M FREAKING OUT BIG TIME OVER HERE SO I WASN'T EXACLTY ABLE TO WRITE. sorry, again, please forgive me and wait for the next chapter, which I'm still trying to figure out, and I promise it'll be better. also, I have a question for you guys. I desperately want them to kiss again, should I do it? or is it too soon? please, tell me.**_

_**xoxo, **_

_**me.**_

_**P.S. I HATE EVERYTHING AND I'M STILL FREAKING OUTTTT.**_


	10. Kill or be killed

**_Chapter 10: killed or be killed._**

Damon Salvatore watches in amazement as the red head sleeps soundlessly. He's been staring at her for about five minutes, trying to find the right moment to wake her up. She's sleeping on the side of the bed, almost falling off, just like he remembers. Her hair is pretty much all over her pillow and in the other side of the bed sits the entire collection of _friends_. He lifts a hand and goes to move a strand of hair away from her hair.

"Ok, you've been staring at me for ten minutes, what's going on?" she asks without opening her eyes.

He withdraws his hand back faster than possible at the same time she opens her eyes. He's surprised to find they're not filled with anger, just plain curiosity.

"Well, I thought you should know it's two P.M. in the afternoon. Don't you have somewhere to go?" he says, sarcastically.

She sits up straight, her hands flying out to keep her balance and her eyes wide as saucers. Shit, she overslept _again_. She gets up, flying to her closet and trying to find the right clothes to wear. Today the Historical Society Volunteer picnic takes place and, somehow, she got pulled into helping. She hates helping. Once she decides what to wear, she turns to Damon, hands on her hips.

"I'm changing and you are leaving," she points to the door.

"But there's nothing I haven't seen before," he jokes.

"Get out," she says as she rolls her eyes and walks him to the door of the room. "And you better not be here when I'm ready."

"I'm offended," he says sarcastically.

"Good, stay like that."

He secretly enjoys the way her eyes shine.

"They know," she tells the blonde.

Caroline and Cassandra are painting the banks of the park, why, she doesn't know, while talking. Caroline has been trying nonstop to turn Elena against Stefan. She thinks she's succeeded, Cassandra, however, has other thoughts.

"What? of course not," the blonde scoffs.

"Elena and Stefan never fight in public, they never fight, period."

She gets up and points to the couple in the other side of the park. They're frowning and Stefan has his arms crossed.

"You see that? It's obviously fake, Elena is trying hard not to smile right about now," she continues, smirking at the blonde.

Caroline stares at her, her mouth is hanging open and eyes are widened. Cassandra laughs, going back to work.

"Years and years of practice. Don't worry, the more you spend with Kat, the easier it'd be for you to know when someone's acting or lying."

"You are amazing," Caroline gasps.

"I know, I know," she jokes. "So, what's going on, really?"

The blonde sighs and sits down on the bench Cass is painting. The old vampire gets up and sits next to her.

"My mom is trying to play mother of the year," she mumbles, looking down at her hands.

"And, maybe it's the heightened emotions or my period or something," she lets out a breathy laugh. "but it bothers me more than usual."

"Isn't that okay, though? She wanting to spend time with you?" Cassandra asks.

"Yes, but she's never done it before, and now with my whole new problem… you know," the blonde stresses, trying hard not to rant. "Was it this hard with your parents?"

Cassandra falls quiet. Her parents are a touchy subject. She never really forgave them for what they did to her, but she supposes she had it coming. She clears her throat.

"My parents…it was different, I mean, my mom was a witch and my father a warlock so they knew about vampires," she explains. "Besides, they—they died before I turned."

"I'm so sorry, Cass."

"It's okay," she lies. "I don't even remember them anymore."

That's not true. She can see her parents' faces clearly in her mind, especially Anastasia's, her sister. Her mother's flaming red hair and her kind blue eyes, her father's blonde hair and green eyes, eyes just like her own. She tries hard not to think of her sister, but her face comes to her mind, accompanied by the most powerful guilt she's ever felt.

"What am I gonna do with you?" she demands as she walks up to Damon.

He had been talking to Mason seconds ago before she decided enough was enough. He had to stop meddling, especially after Stefan had to fix what he messed up.

"Please, tell me you were just bonding." Stefan appears beside her and they both glare at Damon.

"What's wrong with your relationship?" he asks instead.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Cassandra asks, turning to look at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Stefan denies.

"Come on, Stefan! You and Elena never fight especially not about me," Damon retorts.

"Drop it, Damon."

He shrugs, a sarcastic smirk on his face. If his little brother wants to keep the façade, fine for him. Then, a little girl offers them lemonade. They all take a glass. Right when she's about to take a drink, Damon starts to cough heavily. Both Stefan and she put the cups down to see what's wrong with him. He spits the lemonade out and keeps coughing, hating the way all his insides sting because of the vervain.

"What's wrong?" Stefan asks, coming to Damon's side.

Cassandra, however, takes a very small sip from her cup of lemonade. She puts the cup away as soon as the liquid touches her lips, recognizing the vervain immediately.

"Holy shit!" she curses, this time putting the cup back in the table. Stefan glances at her. "Vervain," she explains.

She walks to Damon's other side and rubs his back, frowning at him with concern.

"Are you better?" she asks.

He coughs once more before nodding slowly, unsure. Stefan decides his brother is in good hands and leaves to find some water.

"Damn it, I told you not to do anything," she whispers-yells at him.

"I'm sorry but he's a threat to all of us," he says back, his voice strained because of the vervain.

He gets up and starts to pace back and forth in front of her; she follows him with her eyes. He's planning how to get even at Mason for what he did but decides that the only way for him to do so is killing him. Then Stefan comes back with a bottle of water. He uncaps the bottle and takes a long gulp, rinsing his mouth and spitting the water to the side of the concrete.

"You need to calm down," she says softly, not wanting to flare his anger even more.

"I'm going to kill him," he hisses instead.

"No, sit, sit!" Stefan orders.

He forces Damon down next to her and puts his hands on his shoulder. He looks around; he can't believe he'll say it but his brother is right, Mason is getting dangerous.

"Okay, I don't like this. You're right; he needs to be put down."

Cassandra frowns at the bad dog joke and pulls Stefan's hands away from Damon, gaining their attention.

"You don't get it, do you? This is probably a trick, he most likely has the sheriff on us," she tells them.

"We have to do something, Cass." Stefan shakes his head.

"Woods, trash duty," Damon nods at the skirts of the woods.

He gets up and both brothers start to walk toward the woods. Cassandra rushes after them, keeping up with them.

"What are you doing? You're not coming," Damon scowls at her.

"Oh, no, I'm going. Someone has to put you out of trouble," she shoots back.

The three of them follow Mason into the woods. He leads them to a clearing and turns to see them.

"You'll regret doing this," he says.

"Oh, no, we won't." Damon smirks.

"Yes, you will."

Then, Mason glances at something behind Damon's shoulder. They all turn at the same time to see how a deputy shoots at Stefan several times. He falls to the ground with a groan and falls unconscious. More deputies start to show up, shooting at Damon and Cassandra. Damon goes down, too but doesn't lose consciousness. He watches how Cass hisses angrily at the deputy who shot her, much like Lexi did before he killed her, and starts to walk forward. Then, out of nowhere, Liz comes up and points her gun to her, shooting. The bullet hits her square between the eyes and she falls to the ground, unconscious. That's the last thing he sees before everything goes black.

"What are you doing here?" Mason asks the two girls.

The blonde looks at him suspiciously but Elena looks up with a scared look on her face.

"Where are Damon and Stefan?" Elena demands, trying to pull all her courage.

"Why don't you have your friend sniff them out?" he asks before turning to Caroline. "Does your mother know what you are? I'd be happy to tell her."

Caroline's about to attack him but Mason takes Elena around her shoulders, his hands having very easy access to her neck.

"Careful, necks snap easily around here."

"I can take you," Caroline promises.

"Wanna bet?"

"Yes, I do."

She moves so fast Mason doesn't have time to react and throws him to the nearest tree, his hold on Elena lost. She pins him there, smirking up at him with satisfaction and pride.

"Told ya," she says proudly before throwing him to the floor and kicking him hard.

"Let's go," she tells Elena.

They take off running.

"How many of you are there?" the sheriff demands.

Damon groans, still fuzzy with the vervain they injected in them and with the wooden bullets inside his body. The worry isn't helping much, either. Stefan hasn't woken up yet, which he should have a while ago, and Cassandra is definitely dead. She won't come back in a few hours unless someone gets that bullet out of her forehead. He _needs_ to get it out.

"How can you walk in the sun?" Liz asks again but he can't tear his eyes away from his brother and Cassie.

The sheriff follows his eyes and shoots at Stefan again, Damon flinches. Then, her gun goes to point at Cassandra and he groans.

"Answer me or I'll kill her."

"No, Liz—you are my friend," he groans, shaking his head.

The sound of the door opening interrupts anything she was about to say. Then, a deputy groans somewhere near the door and the distinctive sound of falling reaches their ears. After a moment of suspense, Elena appears in the room, breathing hard.

"You can't kill them, I won't let you."

A deputy grabs her by the arm and pushes her forward. Then a gush of wind feels the room, everyone looks around nervously.

"Who else is with you?" Liz demands, pointing her gun at the girl.

Elena doesn't answer; she only looks worriedly at the three vampires on the floor. A blurred figure passes by her, attacking the deputy next to her. The man falls to the floor and the blur moves to the other cop, doing pretty much the same thing. Caroline retreats into a corner, hissing and looking at everyone who's left with a crazed look on her eyes. Then she notices her mother and her face softens a little.

"Hi, mom," she mumbles, looking down.

She groans at how sore her muscles feel as she tries to open her eyes. She coughs a little as she sit up, a hand on her head, where the throbbing is killing her, and her eyes still closed. Finally, she opens her eyes. Only to find clear blue one staring at her.

"Damon?" she asks. Her voice is almost inaudible.

"Hey," he says, putting a hand on her hair and trying to fix it a little. "I took all the bullets out, including the one in your head."

She nods, giving him a small smile of gratitude. Then, her eyes go down to his shirt. She can clearly see where the bullets hit him. She puts a white hand in his shirt, trying to see if he's all healed.

"Are you okay? Is Stefan okay?" she asks, worried.

"We're fine. You're actually the only one who died," he says, shooting a glare at Liz who is sitting down at the other side of the room.

She looks around the room. Elena is crunched down next to Stefan while she rubs his back, talking to him softly. Caroline is in one corner, her mouth and chin stained with blood. Next to her there are three deputies, all dead and still bleeding. The smell makes her mouth water.

"You should feed, there's one with enough blood." Damon tells her before moving over to his brother.

She easily finds the deputy with more blood on his system and digs her fangs on his already damaged skin. She can't help but moan a little at the blood in her mouth. Soon enough the body is completely drained. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. Then she gets up, as good as new.

"This is the most unfortunate situation, three deputies dead and you…" Damon points at Liz. "What am I gonna do with you?"

Liz looks up when she notices she's being addressed. Cassandra walks to stand next to him, glaring furiously at Liz. Who does she think she is? No one kills Cassandra Woodhouse. Not even _Klaus_. Liz keeps her eyes trained on Damon, though. they stare at each other for a long while until Caroline interrupts him.

"You won't tell anyone, right mom? Look, I know that you hate me but I'm your daughter," Caroline says, bordering on desperation.

"Mom, please, please." She begs. Liz doesn't answer. "He'll kill you, he will."

"Then do it," Liz begs Damon with tears in her eyes. "I can't deal with this, kill me."

Damon starts to walk toward her slowly. Cassandra watches, unfazed. Caroline is better off without Liz, anyway.

"But you were going to drag it out so painfully," he says, glancing at Cassandra for a second before grabbing Liz by the shoulders.

Everyone shouts at him not to do it at the same time, except for her. She's curious as to what he's talking about. Damon rolls his eyes.

"Calm down, guys, no one's killing anybody." He says, looking around. "You're my friend." He adds to Liz.

"A stomach bug… yeah, hit me hard, I'll probably be off for a few days," Liz tells whoever she's speaking to on the phone. Damon clears his throat and she looks at him. "Or more, I'll text you… yeah, bye." She adds before hanging up and handing Damon the phone.

"Thank you." Damon takes the phone and puts it in his pocket. "I know it's not the best but—"

"It's what she deserves," Cassandra interrupts him, glaring at Liz.

She's staying at the basement of The Salvatore Boarding house. There's nothing there but a small bed and a chair that's used as a table, too. Cassandra hasn't gotten over the fact that this little human, who isn't that strong, managed to kill her on one try. Sure, the other had already shot her twice but she should've seen the dam sheriff and stopped her before she could shoot. She admits she's mostly angry at herself than at Liz.

"But once the vervain is out of your system, I'll compel you and you'll be free to go," Damon continues, pretending he didn't hear Cassandra.

Which he did, of course. Ever since she woke up, all his senses have been programmed to know where she is. If he can't see her, he hears her or even smells her, that distinctive combination of lavender and almonds, the same smell she's always had. It's almost like his subconscious doesn't want to get her out of his sight in case someone else tries to kill her.

"Keep Caroline away from me, please," Liz requests, making her hate for the Sheriff increase. What kind of a mother asks for that?

"She's your daughter, and she's going through the toughest times of her life. You should be there for her," she snaps at the sheriff.

"Not anymore, my daughter is gone."

Both Cass and Damon glance outside the room, where Caroline and Elena are standing. Caroline bites her lip and turns away, pressing a hand to her mouth. Elena quickly goes after her.

"You have no idea of how wrong you are," Damon says, his voice softening.

"Still…" the sheriff's voice slowly fades as she tries to control tears.

"The thing you did with Liz… I thought you didn't do that anymore," Cassandra says, sitting down next to him on the piano.

He looks at her confused, she shakes her head. "You forgave her life, even when she tried to kill you."

He simply shrugs, taking a sip from his glass of bourbon. She puts her hands softly in the piano and starts to play slowly, the notes filling the air in a soothing matter.

"I would've done it… not because of what she did to me but because of what she did to the two of you," she keeps going, not knowing why she's explaining herself.

"I thought about it but… she's my friend." He matches her tempo on the keys, making her smile.

Then he pushes her hand away and she gasps, pushing his back to his side of the piano.

"Stick to your side," she chastises.

They keep playing for a while, in silence. Stefan passes them by and stops in his tracks, watching them delightedly. He wishes his brother would realize that the right girl for him is the redhead not the brunette. Either brunette, for that matter. Holding back a sigh, he walks toward the stairs.

"Are you okay, though?" he suddenly asks, turning to look at her.

She turns her head, meeting his eyes. Her hands stop playing and she just keeps them there as she gets lost on the pools of blue. She can see the worry in them clearly, it makes her feel good.

"I'm fine," she nods.

His hand lifts up and puts a strand of her hair behind her ear; it remains there, cupping her cheek. Right when he's about to kiss her, which she knows he will, Isobel's words come to her mind again and she moves back a little.

"Is it true?" she asks.

"What?"

"What"—she clears her throat.—"what Isobel said, about you loving Elena."

He falls silent, his hand quickly falling to his lap. She sighs, her own hands falling from the piano to her lap. Is it true? He doesn't know yet. It may be. He cares about Elena a lot, and she's gorgeous. And ever since he met her, he's never wanted her to die. He didn't think he'd been that scared of someone dying, until he watched how he got a stake through Cassie's chest.

"Maybe you should think about it," she says once she realizes he's not answering. "I'm your friend but I'm also Stefan's and I don't want him to get hurt. I don't want history repeating."

"It won't, I'm not in love with anybody." He says before leaning in again.

"I'm glad," she lies before letting his lips collide with hers.


	11. Masquerade

**_Chapter 11: Masquerade._**

She gasps as a figure slams into her, fangs out and dangerously close to her face.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asks, looking at Katherine with widened eyes.

Katherine's hand goes up to her neck, cutting her air supply. She's livid; Cass can see it clearly in her eyes.

"Do you know what your little friends did? They killed Mason!" Katherine hisses to her.

"What?" Cassandra asks, alarmed.

Katherine slams her against the wall and she has the decency to cringe at the pain that curses through her head. She doesn't even understand why she's being attacked. She's done nothing, nothing at all.

"That's not—Kat, I can't breathe," she says, her voice strangled.

"What am I supposed to do know, uh? Now, I'm minus a moonstone and in terrible need of a werewolf and it seems to me it's all because of you!" she says, angry. "And we need to do something to repair that."

"You can't kill me." She manages out, still struggling for air. She puts one hand around Katherine's wrist, trying to rip it off her neck but fails.

"No, but unless you want me to hand you over to Klaus or Elijah, whoever one comes first, in a silver platter, you will do anything I say." Katherine threatens.

That makes her pause on her struggling. She looks at Katherine for a moment before glaring fiercely. Katherine immediately lets go off of her and grabs her head, letting out a cry of pain. With a flip of her wrist, Katherine goes flying to the other side of the room, knocking down a lamp as she falls into a small table.

"First of all, I haven't gotten out of this house in four days," she says.

That's true, after Liz's attempt at killing her she decided to have some alone time, away from everything. This is unbelievable. She leaves for a while and the main key in their plan dies.

"Second of all, Elijah and Klaus haven't killed you yet _because_ of me, so don't threaten me with that. I'll be doing nothing." She spats at the brunette.

"And third of all, why don't you use your head instead of flipping out? We always have a plan B, remember? There's Tyler Lockwood, just make sure he triggers the curse," she tells the brunette.

Finally, she stops glaring at her and waits patiently until Katherine regains her composure. The brunette sits up, an annoyed look on her face, and helps herself up by supporting herself on the love seat. She straightens her shirt and studies the redhead. She hates that Cassandra is right. Of course, she can't hand her over to either original, they freaking adore the ground she walks on. Why or how that is, Katherine doesn't know. But Katherine needs help on her plan and Lucy is not help enough. She hates to admit it but she misses spending time with Red and ever since Cass started to hang out with the Salvatore brothers, she never has time for her. Cassandra wont help her willingly now, not after how she treated her. Fortunately for Katherine, she knows exactly how to make her cooperate.

"Fine, we'll make sure he triggers the curse tonight and the Salvatores will give us the moonstone tonight as well… two birds with one stone."

"Wait, there's no 'we' in this," Cass says.

"Yes, there is. You're going to help me, not only tonight but as long as it takes for me to go through the plan." Katherine retorts.

"Why is that?" Cassandra asks sarcastically.

"Because if you don't, instead of using Blondie for the sacrifice… I'll hand over Damon." Katherine threatens.

Both women study each other cautiously. Cassandra tries not to show any emotion, not even in her eyes. Outside, she looks like what Kat told her is the most boring thing ever. Inside, she's freaking out. Klaus might not hurt her, or well not _kill_ her, but he'd definitely kill Damon. He's her ultimate weakness, Katherine knows that. After a while, the brunette smirks and turns to the door. She knows she won. When she reaches it, she turns and lifts an eyebrow at Cass.

"Come on, Red. We need to go shopping for tonight." She says.

"What's tonight?" Cass frowns.

"It's the masquerade ball, of course." Katherine smirks and goes out the door. Then she walks back in, a sassy look on her face and says: "Oh, and Happy Birthday, Red."

Cassandra rolls her eyes and, grabbing her coat, follows after her. Yeah, she hates coming back to Mystic Falls.

"Put the bags over there, please," Katherine orders the old lady as she and Red walk into the room.

Cassandra glares slightly at the old vampire and sits down comfortably. She loves Kat's room. It so full of light, so white.

"Thank you, Mrs. Flowers, you've been wonderful help." Katherine smiles at the old lady.

"My pleasure, dear. Tell me if there's anything else I can do," the woman says, looking at both girls.

She walks out of the room, a small smile still on her face, and closes the door after her. Cass gets up and moves to the several shopping bags. She's got to admit they bought a little too much. She takes out two particular dresses, still undecided as to which one she'll use. Katherine is doing pretty much the same, expect that she already knows what dress she's using. Then a sound makes Cassandra look up. Through the mirror, she sees Lucy sneaking up on them. She looks down again. She does _not_ get along with the annoying Bennet witch. Katherine flashes toward the woman and pushes her to the wall without using much force, Lucy gasps a little but her face goes back to emotionless.

"Woah, Kat, chill," Lucy says, lifting her hands up.

"Don't sneak on a vampire," Katherine retorts.

"Don't attack a witch," the tan-skinned woman says. "I'm glad to see you, girl." She smiles at Katherine.

Cassandra watches as Katherine pulls her in for a hug. She meets Lucy's eyes and the witch nods at her, she gives her a polite smile. One that seems fake even to her. Then Katherine pulls away and smirks at her.

"I'm glad you made it," the brunette says.

"You called, I came."

"Like you had a choice." Katherine says while she gives her a pointed look.

"Don't get all bossy on me, you know I love you." The human pouts at Katherine.

She then starts to look around the room, glancing inside some of the bags. She then takes a mask out and examines it closely. Putting it up to her face, she squints at Katherine through the mask's eye holes.

"now, where does one wear this to?" she wonders out loud.

"To a masquerade ball," Katherine explains. Then, as an after thought, she adds. "want to be my date?"

"I thought I was your date," Cassandra says.

"You can always find yourself another date, maybe Matt." Katherine suggests, lifting an eyebrow.

Cassandra gets the hint and fishes her phone out of her bag. Dialing Matt's number, she patiently waits for him to answer. When he does, she smiles.

"Matt, hi," she says cheerfully. "Are you going to the masquerade ball tonight?"

_"Yeah, I am. Why?" _

"Well, I was wondering if you could be my date." She says in a bubbly voice that reminds her of Caroline.

She's met by silence. She turns to Kat and makes a face at her, signalizing with her hand to the phone. Katherine simple moves her hand, signaling to press the matter.

"_Cass, I just went out of a relationship and—"_

"Oh, no, no, no" she laughs. "Not like that. I meant as friends."

"I still don't know…"

"Matt, I'm begging you here. I don't have a date, that's a girl's worst nightmare." She puts all the right amount of desperation so he'll give in.

"Okay, I'll be your date."

"Thank you so much, Matt. See you at seven." With that she hangs up and turns to Kat with a satisfied smile. "Will you tell me now why you want him to be there?"

"All in good time, Red." Katherine smirks, passing her fingers through the lace of her dress.

"Hey, I got your message," Bonnie says as she enters the Boarding House.

"And you brought the grimore, good." Stefan nods.

They both start to walk into the parlor when Bonnie realizes the place is hectic. Alaric passes past them with a stake on his hand and toward a table full of other woodened weapons. Damon is leaning into the table, inspecting every weapon carefully.

"What's going on?" Bonnie slowly asks.

"We are gonna kill Katherine," Jeremy says excitedly, pausing in front of her before quickly moving toward the other men.

Bonnie pauses in her step and turns to Stefan.

"I can explain," Stefan starts, putting his hands together.

"Please."

"We…" he pauses and looks for a way to say this gently. There's no way. "…are gonna kill Katherine."

"What's with the hair?" Lucy asks as she watches how Katherine straightens her hair with Cass' straightening iron.

"Well, she's decided to impersonate Elena Gilbert, her doppelganger." Cassandra drawls.

"She has incredibly bad taste," Katherine adds.

"Except in men," Lucy says to Cassandra.

She giggles and goes back to looking at herself in the mirror. She leans in and applies the black eyeliner on her top-eyelid, adding a little tail at the end of it. she does the same to her other eye slowly and carefully. Once she's done, she turns to the other women.

"She wants to retrieve the moonstone tonight." She says to Lucy.

"I thought it was a myth." The witch frowns.

"Nope, it is very much real," she comments as she gets up. "And the three of us will get it tonight."

"Why? What do you want it for?"

The two vampires watch each other silently. The witch notices the exchange and suddenly everything clicks.

"You want to break the curse."

"Let's just get it first." Katherine looks down.

"You're here for back-up; I suppose Damon will not hand it over easily." Cassandra adds before going to get dress.

Stefan, Damon, Alaric, Jeremy, Caroline and Bonnie stand in the Salvatore living room. Everyone has their doubts, their excitements, their worries but they're not about to show them. They have a plan, one they'll go through with.

"So if anyone wants to back out… this is the time," Stefan voices everyone's thoughts.

"Yeah, cold-feeted leave now…" Damon glances at Caroline. "Caroline," he drawls.

"Don't look at me! The bitch killed me, fair is fair." Caroline shrieks.

"Bonnie?"

Five pairs of eyes go to Bonnie, she squirms under their gazes. Once she makes her mind up, she takes a step forward, head held high.

"No one gets hurt." She states.

"Expect Katherine," Stefan corrects.

"Tonight Katherine gets a stake through her heart." Damon finishes, looking around the room and wondering why is it that Cassandra hasn't made an appearance yet.

"Matt, there you are."

Matt Donovan turns around to see how Cassandra makes her way over to him. She wears a black and royal blue strapless dress that reaches her mid-thigh. The bodice reaches until her waist and then the skirt starts. Her red hair is curled perfectly and her mask matches the Tibi Vasily Jacquard dress.

"Cass, wow, you look beautiful," He comments as she kisses his cheek.

"And you are just dashing in a suit." She takes her time to give him a once over before shaking her head and going to business. "So, what are you supposed to do?"

Matt's expression immediately goes blank. "I'm going to provoke Tyler Lockwood until he snaps and I won't stop until he kills me."

She's not surprised at all. Of course Kat would use him as bait. Dramatic as it is, it seems very classical, as in Greek-novel classical, to have the werewolf kill his best friend and trigger the curse.

"Yes, ugh, I wish you didn't have to die." She shakes her head. "Well, move along." She waves her hand so he'll leave.

Damon stands in the middle of the crowd; he's eyes searching for any sigh of Katherine. Or at least, they used to. Now he's searching every face, looking into every mask to see if _she_ came. Until now he's not successful. He doesn't get it. She's been everywhere since she first came here. She's friends with everyone, helps everyone. And suddenly, she disappeared. He's almost scared to think she left town. He still doesn't know whose side she's on, but he desperately wants her to be on his. Then his eyes finally find her. She's walking around, looking at everyone for a second before passing to another person. He inwardly wishes she's looking for him; he dismisses the idea as soon as it comes up. He flashes to her and she turns quickly. Then, her face lights up in a smile when she sees it's him.

"I thought you'd left town." He smirks. Her smile falters a little but she says nothing. "I—you look gorgeous tonight." He adds, deciding to say what he's always wanted to tell her, at least once.

"Thank you," she says, a little surprised. "You don't look too bad yourself."

"Want to dance? It is kind of tradition," he tells her and she laughs.

"You're right."

She takes his arm and they make their way to the dance floor. She puts her hand on his shoulder and grasps his other hand as Damon puts his hand on her waist. There's little to no distance between them and, somehow, the hand hat was on his shoulder moves up to his neck, where she can play a little with his hair.

"Happy Birthday," he whispers on her ear.

"Thank you, I didn't think you'd remember." She closes her eyes, enjoying the little time of peace.

"I always remember."

She opens her eyes at that. Once again pushing the hope that emerges to the back of her head. Soon, she finds Katherine dancing with Stefan all the way to the other side of the dance floor.

"Give me the moonstone, Damon, please." She begs.

"What makes you think I have it?" he asks as he twirls her around.

"Damon… please, she's serious. I don't want anyone to get hurt." She says.

"Then don't help her." He says harshly as he twirls her toward him.

She stumbles into his chest and tries to step away but he keeps her there. She looks up and her eyes find his clear blue ones. She knows then she's doomed. Before she knows what's happening, her eyes are filled with tears. She has to help her, otherwise, he's dead. She knows Katherine will go through with her threat and she's not so sure she'll be able to live without Damon. Of course, she hasn't seen him in 145 years but all this time she's know where he is, what he's doing. She just got him back, she can't lose him again.

"Cassie?" he frowns, loosening his hold on her.

"I—I can't." She shakes her head. "She—she's going to…" her voice trails off as she sees how Katherine kills Amy right in front of Stefan.

This is enough. Katherine is her friend but she's crossed the line. She will not be afraid of her. She might've been sometime in the past but not anymore.

"I'll see you later," she quickly says before walking the other way.

Damon stands there, confused, before cursing loudly. He almost had her. She was about to say everything she knew, she was about to say she'd be on their side but he let her get away.

"Lucy! I need to tell you something."

The witch stops near a table full with different kinds of cheese and breads. She takes a piece and starts to eat it delicately.

"There's another witch, a Bennet." Cassandra continues.

"That changes things." Lucy puts the piece of cheese on a napkin.

"They're planning something, Lucy, and we need to help them." Cassandra continues.

The witch studies the vampire before saying:

"Why? What's in it for you?"

"She threatened the one person I love the most, Lucy. If she hadn't, I wouldn't be helping at all."

"Then I'll help you." Lucy promises.

"It's that one," Caroline says miserably.

Katherine angrily lets go off Caroline's hair and walks into the room not even hesitating, Cassandra foolishly follows. That is her first mistake. She stops immediately when she senses the magic in the air. Looking down she realizes she's already pass the door, no going back now. She cursers under her breath.

"I did it!" Caroline cheers. "I never thought I'd be able to fool you, but I did!"

Katherine turns to glare at her but Caroline doesn't even flinch. She's too happy to do so. Cass walks into the room carefully, trying to even out the panic bubbling inside her. They hate Katherine, not her. They're not going to kill her; they wouldn't dare, would they?

"Hello, Stefan," she says once she spots him.

"Hello, Cassandra, Katherine." He nods at both of them as he plays with a stake.

Katherine turns to face him, a frown on her face as she notices the stake. Cassandra starts to breathe a little faster as the panic inside her increases. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath in. they're not going to kill her; they're killing Katherine tonight, not her.

"Goodbye, Katherine." She hears Caroline say but doesn't turn. Her eyes only follow the movement of Stefan's stake.

"You won't kill me," Katherine says confidently.

"No,"—Stefan glances behind Katherine's shoulder.—"but he will."

Cassandra turns around at the same time Damon appears from one of the adjunct rooms with a crossbow on his hands. He targets at Katherine and shoots. She gasps in pain and stumbles forward.

"That gotta hurt," Cassandra comments.

She walks past the older vampire and toward one of the couches, sitting down comfortably and crossing her legs. Katherine glares at her.

"You're not going to help me?" she asks.

"Mmm, you see… I don't think so." Cassandra turns her face to Stefan. "Can I have one, Stef?"

Stefan hesitates but hands Cassandra the stake. She aims and sends it flying. It hits her right shoulder and she hisses, one of her hands flying to it.

"We had a deal," Katherine manages out.

"Yes, just like we did in 1759 and in 1530 and in 1863 and in 1943…" She counts with her fingers and pauses, noticing the way the brunette narrows her eyes at her. She leans in. "You see, Kat, I've come to the realization that I never got to get back at you for vervaining me and forcing me to come here."

Katherine Pierce gets up and rips both stakes out of her body. She's seething. Cassandra will not tell her what to do. Back when Cass was a first rate ripper, she did control her a bit but only a bit. Their friendship is based on that, treasons and savings and more betrayals. That's normal but this is very serious. Katherine's life depends on this. Taking a step forward to her redheaded friend, and ignoring the men with them, she looks her in the eye and says:

"I will go through with what I told you."

"I'd like to see you try."

Cassandra doesn't even bat an eyelash and that's when Katherine realizes that threatening Damon might not have been her best move. Cassandra has always done anything for love, _anything._ She should have known Cass wasn't just going to let her threaten him. She was obviously going to fight back.

"I'm tired of playing games and not knowing if I can trust you or not. I want real friends, Kat, for once in my life." She adds.

She looks at the brunette right in the eye, watches how slowly but surely the meaning of her words get to her, how she's not so angry anymore. Katherine Pierce suddenly feels alone. She's always been alone but she knew Cass would always be there for her. Then, after a pause, Cass looks over at Damon.

"She's all yours, boys," she tells the Salvatores as she leans down on the couch.

Following her command, the brothers spring into action. Stefan jumps at Katherine, a new stake in his hand and ready to strike but she's faster, older, and pushes him backward. Stefan jumps up, as if the fall didn't affect him at all. Katherine gets angry at this. Damon comes up behind her and tries to stab her but she whirls around and takes the stake from his hand, pushing him against a wall and knocking several paintings and photo pictures off of the wall.

Cassandra flinches but tries not to act. She knows Katherine will try to put the stake through Damon's heart and she's itching to flash forward and take her down herself but this isn't her fight and she cares about both parties so she'll have to be impartial.

Stefan uses the compressed-air devise Alaric gave him and starts to send stake after stake flying at Katherine. She avoids them all and even grabs two and sends them back at Stefan. He ducks before they hit him. Damon sees and opportunity and pounces on her but she hears him before he reaches her and turns around, grabs his arms and pulls him to the floor harshly. Damon groans but tries to get up anyway. He takes the last stake he has left and tries to kill the goddamn bitch once and for all; but he's tired and she's 400 years older than him and it's not surprise to him when she forces his arm backwards and starts to move the stake closer to his own heart.

He tries to push her away but she's using all her strength. The stake is closer to his heart now, almost touching the soft fabric of his suit. The only thing in his mind is that he can't die now, let alone at the hands of Katherine Pierce. Suddenly, Katherine's eyes widen and she's pulled away from him. He looks up, surprised, only to discover that Cassie has Katherine's hair on her fist and is dragging the bitch across the room by the hair. She thrusts Katherine into Stefan's arms, who immediately puts her into a headlock and sends both of them into the floor. Damon positions himself above them, ready to, finally, run the stake through Katherine's heart. Cassandra covers her eyes with her hands, she doesn't want to look.

"Stop!" a voice reaches them.

Cassandra opens her eyes to see Jeremy near the door of the room. His face is scared and desperate. Everyone in the room freezes, turning to look at him expectantly.

"Everything you do is hurting Elena! You're hurting Elena!" he explains quickly.

Cassandra turns to look at Katherine. It all makes sense now; that's why Lucy is here, because Katherine knows she wouldn't hurt Elena but Lucy would. Katherine smirks as she pushes both Salvatore brothers off of her.

"You think you're the only ones with a witch on your side? Something tells me mine is better than yours." Katherine moves across the room, putting a safe distance between her and the brothers without making it too obvious.

The two brothers turn to Cassandra and she shakes her head.

"Don't look at me; I didn't even know what was really going to happen tonight." She snaps.

"Jeremy go make sure Elena's okay, go!" Stefan orders.

Jeremy rushes down the hallway and down the stairs, hoping that Bonnie has a spell on mind that can save his sister.

"Go make sure Elena's okay, poor Elena." Katherine complains sarcastically. "Well, this is sure going to hurt," she says seriously.

Katherine puts the stake in her hand and presses down, making a straight line down her palm. Blood pours out of the wound. She looks up and regards each member of the room before grabbing the stake with both hands and preparing to plunge it into her stomach.

"Wait!" Damon yells right before the stake punctures Katherine's stomach.

Cassandra looks at him, trying to mask her heartache. He just proved what he had denied four days ago while they sat in that piano. Damon Salvatore loves Elena Gilbert and not her. And there's nothing she can do about it. Katherine smirks at her, triumphant.

"Okay," she says, walking to the red couch Cassandra is sitting on and sitting down next to her. "How about that moonstone?"

"And it's the four of us all over again, just like old times," Said Katherine.

Damon stands in the doorway, looking longingly outside and trying to get out of the room. Stefan simply stands in the middle of the room, not really knowing how to proceed, while Cassandra stands by the window, looking at her reflection and trying not to cry. She's second best again, the rebound. Not even that. She's just a feeble distraction from what he truly desires. She closes her eyes at the pain on her chest. This is by far the worst birthday she's ever had. And it's her 531th birthday.

"The brother who never loved me enough,"—Katherine points at Stefan.—"the brother who loved me way too much,"—she looks at Damon with annoyance.—"And the expert player who lost at her own game."

Cassandra turns from the window at that but chooses to say nothing. Katherine is right of course. She started thinking she'd break their hearts, and she ended up having her heart broken in return. Karma is a bitch, she supposes.

"And the evil slut who never loved anyone but herself." Damon comments.

"What happened to the sweet caring Damon?" Katherine asks, walking up to him.

"Oh, that Damon died a long time ago."

"Good, he was a bore." Katherine deadpans.

"Can you, please, stop antagonizing each other? It's old and a little boring," Cass interrupts, turning fully away from the window.

"Fine, let's talk about you. Did you know little Cassandra has a little dirty secret she hasn't shared yet?" Katherine smirks. "Now that I think about it, two little secrets. One of them involves you." She twirls her finger around the Salvatores, not giving away which brother is involved in the redhead's secret.

"Katherine…" Cassandra warns.

"The other one, though, is much darker." Katherine continues, pretending she didn't hear her. "It'll creep you out, it's about her—"

"Shut up! Shut up, now!" she yells at Katherine.

Her emotions flare up and, with that, so does her magic. The windows bust open and a powerful wind goes inside, while the lights go on and off. The brothers look at her, shocked. They've never seen her lose her temper like this. Katherine, however, simply smirks.

"Mmm, I haven't seen you like this in a very long time. Careful, Red, your unsound expression might be showing," Katherine taunts.

The anger disappears from her face and is replaced by shock and then utter fear. Stefan watches as she lets herself fall to the floor right on her butt and stays there, looking at a spot on the rug. The moment her sparkling green eyes look up to meet his leaf-green ones, the wind stops and the lights go back to normal. She looks down again, pressing a hand to her mouth.

"Good, you're prettier when quiet. Now, where's the moonstone?" Katherine turns to Stefan.

"What do you want with it?" he asks instead.

She rolls her eyes and starts to pace around the room, touching everything within distance.

"Does Elena enjoy having both of you worship the floor that she touches?" Katherine suddenly turns around, smirking at Damon.

"That was really desperate, Katherine." Stefan takes a step forward. "Don't you think we can see right through you?"

"It doesn't bother you that you've fallen for me all over again?" Katherine avoids once again Stefan's questions.

Cassandra starts to feel like they're all in a real game. They're all pieces, including Katherine, and usually, she'd know who had the upper hand. Tonight, she doesn't know and that stresses her out.

"Stop it." Stefan grits his teeth.

"Or what? you'll hurt me? Everything I feel, Elena feels…" Katherine pauses and twirls on her step, facing Damon. "Kiss me, Damon. Elena will feel that, too."

Cass looks up at that, her mouth no longer covered by her hand. There's one single tear in her left cheek but she lets it dry on its own. She watches carefully as Damon smirks sarcastically before his smirk turns bitter.

"I'm a little confused, though. Why a werewolf?" Stefan asks, bringing the attention to himself. "The moonstone breaks a curse that helps them rid the world off vampires. What's in it for you?"

Katherine regards him and opens her mouth to answer but Damon beats her to it.

"Sorry about your pet, by the way," he says, trying to tick her off. "Should've kept him in a tighter leash."

Cassandra slowly gets up; cringing at the pain the high-heels give her feet, she takes off her mask. She walks to stand next to Stefan, tonight's favorite person for her. He locks eyes with her and sends a silent message: are you okay?. She shakes her head. She's far from okay.

"I'll make sure to remember that next time; he's not the only wolf around." Katherine shrugs as she, once again, sits down on the red couch.

"Where's that witch?" Damon mutters from the door.

Everyone ignores him.

"You're a witch, can't you unspell it?" he suddenly asks Cassandra.

She's still standing close to Stefan, almost using him as armour. When Damon suddenly addresses her, she looks up and he notices how she doesn't exactly meet his eyes but looks at other parts of his face.

"Unfortunately for all of us, when it comes to some spells, like this one, the witch who makes the spell is the only one able to make the counter-spell," She replies coolly.

Damon frowns lightly at her. She's been acting weirder than ever tonight.

"We could always play charades," Katherine suggests to Damon.

"You bargained the moonstone," Stefan tells Katherine, who falters on her step, before looking at Cass for confirmation. "When you made the deal with George Lockwood, you said you gave him something he needed. It was the moonstone, wasn't it?"

"Yes, Stef, two plus two." Cassandra congratulates, adding a mocking tone to bother Katherine. "And it would have worked perfectly if it hadn't been for a certain someone." Both she and Katherine shoot Damon a look.

"Yes, and now everyone is finding out I was never in that tomb," Katherine adds. "Have I mentioned how inconvenient your little obsession with me has been for me?" She asks Damon.

He smirks and moves to serve himself a glass of scotch. Then, as he brings his full glass to his lips, he says sarcastically:

"You and me both, honey."

"Why do you need it back?" Stefan asks again, desperately trying to get answers.

"Have I ever told you how hot you are in a suit?" Katherine gives him a once over, biting her lip.

"Why did you have it in the first place?" Stefan asks instead, crossing his arms across his arms and showing he's not even affected by Kat's confession.

"You're wasting your time." Damon rolled his eyes.

"Unless… unless it wasn't yours on the first place. In 1864 you both faked your own deaths, who were you running from?" Stefan asks, realization dawning on his face.

Katherine sends a look at Cassandra. Behind the bore in her eyes, there's fear. Fear because Stefan discovered one of their secrets and Cass is pretty sure her eyes reflect the same alarm.

"In 1986 we were in Chicago and so were you," Katherine improvises. "you were with that wench Lexi at a Bon Jovi concert."

Stefan looks at her, surprised. She smirks and moves forward.

"Come on, Stefan, don't look so surprised. Of coursed I watched over you through the years. You were in the front row, dancing all night. You were watching Bon Jovi and we were watching you." Katherine finishes, touching Stefan's chest lightly.

"Oh, no, I was definitely watching Bon Jovi." Cassandra corrects, shaking her head and making Damon chuckle.

"Who were you running from?" Stefan repeats, unfazed.

Katherine simply mouths 'I love you' to Stefan and is disappointed when he doesn't react.

"We're missing the party," Cassandra pouts. "This isn't fair, it's my birthday." She looks outside the window to the garden, where everyone's dancing and laughing and drinking.

Stefan glances at her. He had totally forgotten that today is, indeed, her birthday. Now he feels bad.

"I'll have one of those." Katherine tells Damon, who is serving himself another drink.

"Right away, Miss Katherine." He mocks while handing her a glass.

When she takes it, he takes the opportunity and, taking a stake out of his sleeve, slams her against the wall, aiming at her heart. Stefan and Cassandra immediately shout out for him to stop.

"Yes, Damon, please, do it." Katherine smirks. "When did you get so hot?"

She looks him up and down but then gives him a bored look. Cassandra feels a pang on her chest for him; Katherine obviously did that to bother him.

"I swear once the spell is off—"

Damon gets interrupted by another voice that comes from the door.

"Cassandra."

The four of the turn to see Lucy standing there with her arms crossed. Cassandra walks forward, nodding at Lucy. The witch lifts her hand and shows her the moonstone, Cassandra smiles. She walks as close to the door as she can and stretches out her hand.

"My debt here is paid," Lucy says to Katherine.

"Yes, now give it." Katherine replies, annoyed.

Lucy hands Cassandra the moonstone. The two women share a long look; Lucy narrows her eyes while Cassandra simply rolls hers. Katherine starts to walk to Cassandra, her hand already stretched so Cass can give her the moonstone.

"Cass, don't do it," Stefan says.

But Cassandra isn't paying attention; instead she's focusing in the cold stone in her hands. Then, she hands over the stone to Katherine. Katherine smirks for about two seconds before the spell makes effect. She starts to choke up, feeling like the air doesn't enter her lungs. Her eyes find Cass' and she inwardly curses. She should've never threatened Damon; she can see that clearly in Cass' eyes, which are cold as ice. Katherine falls to her knees, before lying unconscious on the floor.

"Wait, Elena!" Stefan calls out, alarmed.

"Elena is perfectly fine and already healing," Cassandra says. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going home." She sends Katherine one last glance before walking out of the room.

She sits in her living room, the coziness of the couch doing nothing but making her feel loner. The T.V. is off, there's only one little lamp on, right on one corner of the room, and her eyes are stuck to the clock on the wall. 11:59. in less than ten seconds her birthday would end. She knows it's stupid, that she shouldn't care about a birthday. She's had many others, anyway. But this one has definitely been the worse of them all. Not even the one she spent with Klaus was this bad, in fact, now that she thinks of it, that one was the best. How ironic.

Then, there's a knock on her door. She doesn't move. The knocking keeps going until she gets tired of it and walks up to the door.

"What?" she snaps as she opens the door.

Stefan Salvatore stands there, wearing an apologetic smile and a small card box on his hands. Cassandra examines him before moving so he can come in. they walk into the living room, where they sit on the white couch.

"I know it's,"—he clears his throat.—"late but… Happy Birthday." He opens the card box to reveal five frosted cupcakes.

Cassandra's eyes go from the sweets to Stefan's face and back again. She feels her eyes water as she laughs.

"You're one minute late, but thank you, Stef." She smiles, her eyes shining with tears.

Stefan puts the box of cupcakes on the table and leans in to give her a hug. She sniffs a little, trying not to break down once again.

"I know it's been a rough night for you, I though you deserved a small happy moment." He starts. "I would've bought a cake but, considering the hour, that's the best I could find."

"It's perfect. I love cupcakes." She says as she leans away from the hug, glad to finally have her emotions on check.

She grabs one cupcake with white frosting and hands it to Stefan before grabbing one with red frosting for herself. They eat in silence and it isn't until both of them are on their second cupcake that Stefan speaks.

"About what you said to Katherine… I'm your real friend, Cass, you can trust me."

"I know that but… I've been friends with her for 500 years and it was so hard to see her—I don't think I'd have been able to see you kill her." She looks down.

"But you did that weird thing to her that allowed Damon to put her in the tomb."

Cassandra lifts her eyes to meet his and he gets it. He nods as he finishes his cupcake. The clock's ticking fills the silence and she starts to look around the room. She sacrificed all that, risked so much tonight for a man who doesn't even love her. A man who doesn't even considers her as relationship material. She's been literally friend-zoned _again_.

"She threatened Damon." He nods.

"Yes, she knows I do anything for love so she thought that would make me cooperate. I guess she didn't count on me stabbing her in the back." Cassandra plays with the tip of her hair. Stefan listens in silent. "At the end of the day it doesn't really matter because he's in love with Elena." She gets up and starts to pace.

"Is there something wrong with me? It has to be that, Stefan. There's something wrong with me. That's why every man I've ever fancied or loved chooses Katherine or my sister, why every relationship I've ever had ends the wrong way. I can't be loved, can I? I'm too clingy or annoying or something. Am I emotionally unstable? Is that why no one loves me? Is that why he doesn't love—" her voice cracks at the end and the tears that she had been holding onto finally slip out of her eyes.

"No, no, that's not true." Stefan reaches out to take her hand and pulls her down next to him.

"Yes, yes, it is." She cries.

"No, you listen to me. You're one of the best people I've ever met and you're kind and definitely not emotionally unstable." He corrects her as he grabs her by the shoulders so she has to meet his eyes.

"I am?"

"Yes." He affirms.

"Then why can't he love me?" she sobs, finally letting it all out.

Stefan lets her cry into his chest as he hugs her again, feeling bad for her. Cassandra deserves to be loved and he's incredibly angry at his brother for hurting her this way.

"I just want to get over him for good, Stefan, but I can't. Every time I think I finally did it, I'll be in a big city and look up and he'll be sitting in the other side of the room or walking by and I fall for him all over again." She rants, tears still streaming down her face.

"It's okay, maybe you'll be able to do so one day. No one ever realizes when they're over someone, one day they simply are," Stefan tells her.

He hugs her until she stops crying and she leans away. She gives him a small smile, glad to have a friend like Stefan. He sends her one back.

"How's Elena?"

"Well, she still thinks we shouldn't be together." Stefan's face falls.

"She loves you with all her heart, Stefan. She'll come around, don't worry." Cassandra retorts.

"Yeah, I'm not worried about me, though. Are you okay?" He asks her.

"No, not at all," She shakes her head. "But I will be. I'm strong, I've always been." She admits.

That night, Stefan stays and they spend the entire night talking about everything and nothing, really trying to get the friendship they used to have back.


	12. Elijah

**_Chapter 12: Elijah._**

**_Spain, 1497._**

_Cassandra Woodhouse stood in the middle of the big room. The long skirt of her black and king blue dress brushed against the floor every time she moved and her red curls were arranged perfectly so they wouldn't fall into her face and, instead, would cascade down her back. She hated to admit the place was alluring and cozy. Its walls were adorned with beautiful tapestries of lively colors but, to her, they all look dead. The servants rushed about around her, many carrying her possessions but she watched them go by as if she were in a fog that did not allow her to see. Months ago she had been in her beautiful England, some days dining with the King himself. Everyone knew of Lord and Lady Woodhouse; even their servants were considered high ground, between other servants of course, to them, they were only that. But, that not-so-nice lord had asked for her hand in marriage without even knowing her and her parents had agreed immediately. Anything to get her out of the castle. And that is how she ended in Castilla, Spain. _

_The family she was marrying into was British, maybe even more so than her but, for some unknown reason or maybe just an infatuation of said lord, they had been residing here for about two years now. She did not know exactly who they were, her parents had not given her that piece of vital information, but she did know they were of high birth._

_"Lady Cassandra," a thick British voice reached her and she quickly turned, yearning for the familiar accent._

_Cassandra turned to see a man in his mid-twenties maybe thirties. He regarded her with respect and, was she only hoping?, maybe even a little compassion. She didn't miss how he noticed her black robes. She was still mourning her sister's death, even if her parents had forbid her to do so. She would be off age in less than a year, she was almost a fully grown woman and a powerful witch, and no one would tell her what she could and couldn't do. No one, except perhaps the man standing in front of her; she still had to figure that out._

_"My lord," she curtsied. _

_"I am Elijah and will be taking care of you while you stay with us. Any trouble you have, with anything, you come to me. Were you to have any problem with communicating yourself to the servants or peasants, I would be delighted to help you." Elijah said to her politely and very respectful._

_Whereas Elijah, she was sure, believed she'd be honored by his words, she felt discriminated. Lifting her head as high as she could without seeming too petulant, she said:_

_"I thank you for your words, my lord, but I will be needing no help. I speak five languages, I am perfectly capable of communicating with the servants and, in case I do go out of the castle, which I doubt very much, with the peasants." She informed him._

_Elijah stood there, a little speechless. When his brother told them he wished to marry the powerful witch who lived in England, he supposed it had only been for her beauty. Now that he got to see her in person and not on a drawing, he realized that the girl was indeed gorgeous, by far the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on. Almost as beautiful as Katerina. He frowned, he would not open that door. He still didn't understand why his brother would marry this woman, especially because she was so cold. Unfortunately for him, his brother still hadn't forgiven him completely for what had happened to and with Katerina and thus didn't tell him his plans._

_"Now, if you excuse me, I have had a very long trip and I wish to be showed to my chambers." She demanded._

_Elijah shook his head and took a step forward. This woman would not last a day in the presence of his brother if she kept that attitude. _

_"Milady, I'm afraid you do not understand. My brother has asked me to have you presented to him as soon as you arrived," Elijah told her, trying to keep his politeness on check._

_"And I'm afraid you do not understand me. I know very well what you are, I knew it the moment I heard your name. I am the most powerful witch of the century and even your brother will have to wait for me, especially because I'm here against my will. Now, unless you wish for me to unleash hell inside your beautiful home,"—she paused, giving the vampire a very hard look that almost had the original backing down.—"show me to my chambers so I can rest." _

_"Very well, follow me," he told her, a little confused as to how the tables had turned._

_Cassandra followed right after him, believing that maybe her residence here wouldn't be as bad. Oh, how wrong she was._

**_Mystic Falls, present time._**

"Stefan, come on! We'll be late for first period," Cassandra calls from the umpteenth time to the living room.

She's touching up her eyeliner and fixing her hair in a high ponytail when Stefan finally enters the room. She turns around to face him, smiling.

"Sleeping beauty finally shows up," she says, putting her hands on her hips.

Stefan gives her a small smile as he carefully examines her expression. She's wearing high-waisted blue jeans shorts with a long-sleeved sweater that says _'Meet me in Paris' _in cursive bolded letters and high-heeled ankle-high boots. Her make-up is perfectly done as always and she's wearing more bracelets than usual. He instantly knows all the effort is only for her own sake, no one else's. She's not trying to impress Damon or him or anyone. She's impressing herself.

"I can't go to school with the same clothes I had last night," He says.

"Right. I'm not supposed to do it but close your eyes," She says.

He does as she says. A light breeze fills the room and moves his hair but he doesn't open his eyes until she tells him to. In the bed, there are some of his clothes.

"How—when—how did you—?" he stutters, looking at her agape.

"Just a little trick I learned in Nord-Pas-de-Calais a few centuries ago. Don't tell anyone, though. People start asking favours, making suggestions and—when I do magic… sometimes I lose control, I'm too powerful." She begs him.

"Your secret's safe with me." he nods.

She smiles and leaves the room, leaving him to change.

"Hey," Jeremy says as he approaches them.

"Hi, Jer," Cass smiles.

She's leaning into the locker next to Stefan's. Stefan closes his locker and they all start to walk together.

"Hey, if Elena's not gonna stay over is okay with me but you gotta be careful with Jenna," Jeremy starts, looking at Stefan.

"What?"

"Yeah, I mean I'm happy you're back together but you gotta have some boundaries, you should've told me she wasn't gonna go home."

The three of them stop. Stefan and Cassandra share an alarmed look and Jeremy starts to get nervous.

"No, Jeremy, we're not back together." Stefan denies.

"Yeah, and Stef spent the night over at mine's." Cassandra frowns.

"Really? Because her bed was un-slept in and Mrs. Lockwood said her car's still there." Jeremy frowns.

"Where's Elena, then?" Cassandra asks.

Nobody answers.

"Katherine's in the tomb, trust me. I shut her in." Damon protests.

"Did you?" Stefan asks.

After Cass called Damon, pressured by Stefan of course, it took him less than ten minutes to get to school. They are now in the parking lot, explaining the older Salvatore their little 'Elena's missing' situation. He didn't take the news exactly well, but it could've been worse.

"Did I what, Stefan?" he demands.

"I know the hold she has on you," his brother tells him.

"She's in the tomb, Stefan, period." Damon pauses. "She did say something, though. I just thought she was bluffing."

Cassandra perches in the conversation at that. Katherine revealed inside information? She must have been truly desperate.

"What did she say?" she asks.

"Elena's in danger." Damon hesitates.

"No, no, Damon. Her exact words," she replies.

Damon looks at her for a moment before his eyes go to Stefan. He's also looking at Cassandra curiously. He sighs before saying:

"She's the doppelganger, she needs to be protected."

Cass eyes widen and she takes two steps back. That's bad. That means word got around that Elena exists, that means someone must have already put a price on her head. That means Elijah must already be on his way. She feels like she can't breathe. She hasn't seen Elijah in 392 years. She desperately hopes Klaus doesn't hear about Elena yet. One Original she can handle, two at the same time, she cannot.

"Elijah…" she whispers loud enough for the Salvatores to hear.

They share a dumbfounded look before looking at the redhead again. She feels like she's going to throw up. Can vampires even do that? She never has in all her vampire life but who knows. She looks up from the ground to them.

"We need to find Bonnie, now." She states.

"No, this is most likely a trick. I'm not doing anything." Damon shakes his head.

"I'll do it," Stefan says. He starts to walk away, leaving the other two behind.

"If you talk to Katherine, Stefan, she'll trick you." Damon calls out to him.

"It's Elena, Damon." Stefan stresses.

"And we don't need Katherine," Cassandra adds to him before walking out toward Stefan.

"There, she's there." Bonnie points weakly at a little point in the map.

Stefan squints at the map and shakes his head. That's nothing; the map doesn't say the name of that particular place. They need more.

"No, Bonnie, we need a more specific location."

"That's all I can do," she replies.

"But I can do more," Cass says, entering the classroom.

Stefan looks at her and frowns. Hadn't she say she couldn't do magic because she loses control? What is she doing? Cassandra simply ignores his unasked questions and bites into her wrist, forcing it into Bonnie's mouth. Bonnie struggles with her, her widened hazel eyes filled with fear, but Cass barely moves at the fight. She can see it in her eyes, sense it in his voice. The girl is doing a lot of magic and it's wearing her down. Once she makes sure Bonnie swallows, she removes her wrist and walks over to the map.

"Jeremy, give me your hand." She commands. Jeremy goes to give her his left hand but she lifts a finger. "The other hand, Jer."

Jeremy gives her the hand with the cut and she takes it in both her hands. She closes her eyes and focuses hard. That's when she sees it: A very abandoned colonial house, a secluded place inside the woods. In the house, two old vampires, older than Katherine, are arguing about something. In the other room, Elena lays peacefully on a couch, her vitals are normal and she's not bleeding anymore. No sign of Elijah, yet. Cassandra opens her eyes.

"I know where she is," she tells them.

"Fine, let's go." Stefan takes his school bag and starts to move across the table.

Cassandra follows him but they both stop when they feel Jeremy after them.

"You are not coming, it's too dangerous." She scolds him.

"You two are going, you need help." He replies.

Right when they're about to keep arguing, the door opens and in comes Damon Salvatore in all his glory. She stiffens a little and Stefan can literally see her guards coming up inside her eyes.

"They're not going alone," He says.

"Whatever happened to 'I'm not doing anything'?" She asks, turning to face him.

"It's Elena." He throws Stefan's words back at her before leaving again.

She rolls her eyes and follows after him, Stefan right beside her.

The three of them where now on the road, in Damon's blue camaro because he had insisted on driving and with an awkward silence filling the entire car. Even with the music from the stereo, it's awkward.

"There's an access road some miles from here," She mumbles.

They ignore her. Then, Damon takes a blood bag and starts to drink. He smirks annoyingly at his brother.

"You want some? You just have to ask." He taunts. Cass rolls her eyes and crosses her arms.

"I want some," Stefan nods.

Damon looks taken aback. Cassandra snorts at the look on his face. He sends her a frown through the rear-view mirror; she meets his eyes before looking away, unfazed in the slightest.

"Does Elena know you're drinking blood again?" Damon asks before passing the blood bag to his little brother.

"I've been drinking from her."

And the awkward silence fills the car again. Or at least it does on the front part of the car; on the back, it takes Cass everything she has not to laugh at how stunned Damon looks. She bites her lip hard.

"Romantic," he says sarcastically.

"So this is us, uh? Bonding over road trips." He clears his throat, getting more comfortable on his seat.

"Oh, that'd be you two. The two brothers relish about the past… or the present, if you'd like." Cassandra comments. "Now, I do have a question on this topic."—she waits for a second.—"votes in favor? Votes against? The motion clearly passes." She finishes sarcastically.

Stefan chuckles at her sarcasm, knowing very well who it's directed at. Damon simply rolls his eyes and motions for her to continue. She sits closer to them, positioning herself between both seats.

"Now, you are here because Elena is your girlfriend and I'm here because she's my friend and I like adventure,"—she adds, tilting her head to the side. Then she turns to Damon, feigning interest.—"why are you here, darling?"

Stefan holds his breath, waiting for Damon's answer. Damon looks out the window, pretending to be very interested on the trees passing by. The seconds move and turn into minutes and he still hasn't an answer. And it's not like he doesn't want to answer. It's that he's not sure. Does he love Elena? Maybe. Does he love Cassie? Very possible. He meets her gaze through the rear-view mirror again but this time she doesn't look away. Her green eyes are cold and he's forced to look away. She's only given her that look once before and she didn't talk to him for a week after.

"Come on, Damon. Are you here to help you sweet little brother rescue his damsel in distress or… are you here because you're in love with that very same girl?" she asks, pressing the matter.

Stefan notices slightly how she has trouble saying the last part but Damon doesn't.

"I can step out of this as easily as I stepped in." he shrugs.

"Mmm, you see that's the beauty of it," Stefan tells his older brother. "You can't."

Damon looks out of the window again, preferring not to ask. Cass leans back on her seat, wearing a bitter smirk on her face, and looks out the window as well and she crosses her legs.

"Wait, not so fast."

Stefan stops and looks at Damon. They're standing in the middle of the woods, very close to the old house Cass saw on her vision. Cass sits herself up on the hood of the car and looks at Damon, waiting for his sermon to come up in right about three, two, and… one.

"These people are probably even older than Katherine, have you considered that? We don't have a plan; we can't just go in there. It'd be suicide." He protests.

"I hate to say this but," she drawls. "He's kind of right."

Stefan looks at her like she just betrayed them and she feels bad. What the hell is she doing? What was her day's resolution? Not to agree with Damon, pretend he doesn't exist, support Stefan at all costs. She has failed in all of the above.

"I don't care, this is Elena. I need to save her," he says.

"What if you die?" Damon demands.

Stefan doesn't even wait for a heartbeat to answer. It simply leaves his mouth because is what he truly believes. "I can't think of a better way of doing so."

Cassandra and Damon look down at the same time before sharing a look. He nods and starts to walk toward his little brother.

"Let's go," He says.

Cass jumps down the hood and starts to walk toward them but Damon stops on his tracks and turns to her, shaking his head.

"What?" she asks, scrunching her nose up at him.

"You are not coming, you're staying here." He orders, grabbing her by the shoulders and staring to walk her back to the car.

"No, you can't decide that!" she protests as she fights his grip. "I need to help you."

He turns her around so quickly, her eyes widen in surprise. His blue eyes are clear with worry, though she doesn't know whose it's directed to.

"Ever since you came back, you've almost died twice. Once you did. Let's not have the thrice be the time you die permanently," He says.

She blinks up at him. They lock eyes for a few minutes, none of them moving. They just look at each other and that's when she gets it. The worry in his eyes is for her. He doesn't want her to die. She looks away.

"Fine, just be careful." She clears her throat. "Let go off me."

He doesn't, though. Instead he uses one of his hands to force her to look at him. She tries to fight it. She doesn't want him to see her straight to the eye again. Her walls are crumbling down inside of her, if he keeps acting like this she might show him the one emotion she desperately wants him to ignore.

"Cassie, promise me."

"I promise," she fumes.

He lets go off her and walks to his brother. Cassandra sends Stefan one last look before sitting down on the hood of the car again and waiting for them to disappear.

"To who it may concern, if you think you can beat me… you can't." Elijah calls out to the empty room.

He starts to look around, feeling the presence of the others in the room and waiting for their attack. Little does he know that another ghost of his past is behind the main door, waiting to make an entrance. He starts to break the rack until it resembles a stake and moves to face the stairs.

"I repeat, you can't beat me… so I want the girl on the count of three or heads will roll," he warns again. "One…. Two… thr—"

"Elijah."

Elijah freezes and slowly turns around. The door is wide open and in the middle of it stands no other than Cassandra Woodhouse. She's wearing very fashionable clothing and looks a bit different from the last time he saw her, of course, but he knows it's her. He'd recognize that voice anywhere.

"Cassie…?" he says and curses when it sounds like a question.

On the hallway, Rose watches how Damon tenses at the appearance of this stranger and how he literally glares when Elijah speaks her name. She wonders who is so important to make _Elijah_ hesitate. Upstairs, Stefan and Elena are freaking out. What in God's name is wrong with Cass? Has she lost her mind?

"Let them go, Elijah." she requests.

The man clenches his jaw and takes a step forward menacingly. He doesn't let the made-up stake go, either. Upstairs, Stefan slowly gives Elena the vervain grenade and then lets her go. She walks as silently as she can to the head of the stairs.

"And why exactly would I do that?" Elijah inquires.

It takes a lot of Cassandra's willpower not to melt under his accent. It sounds so familiar, so much like home.

"Because you and I both know it'd be your worst move so far," she tells him.

It doesn't go unnoticed by her or anyone in the room how her accent turns British for a second there. She clears her throat, trying to get rid off it. She let go off that part of her a long time ago.

"You're bluffing, Cassandra." The other man states, taking another step closer.

"Try me," she hisses back.

They both study one another, weighting their options. Cassandra knows she can take him, she also knows he can't be permanently killed. He knows her full power; he also knows he needs that copy of his Katerina and the moonstone so he can go back to speaking terms with his brother. Or maybe simply taunt him with it all before ripping his heart out. Yes, that plan sounds better.

"I'll go with you," a voice says from the top of the stairs. They all look in astonishment as Elena appears and offers herself to Elijah, her hands behind her back. "Just don't hurt my friends."

Elijah walks up to the stairs, not missing the way she doesn't show her arms. Cassandra gets alarmed and follows Elijah, cursing Elena in her mind. She almost had him. On the hallway, Damon lets go of Rose, after he makes sure she won't do anything, and starts to walk to the main room where the other two are. Upstairs, Stefan prepares himself for the fight he's sure is about to come.

"What game are you playing with me?" Elijah asks slowly, narrowing his eyes at Elena.

Elena decides that is her cue and takes the vervain grenade from behind her back and unhooks it.

"Elena, don't—"

Cassandra never finishes her sentence because the grenade goes flying and explodes right above Elijah, some of its contents fly toward her and she lifts her arms covering her face. Most of the vervain lands on her sweater and she thanks God for her decision of clothing.

Elijah screams out in pain and Elena thinks for a second that they might win but then his skin starts to heal at an unnatural, even for a vampire, speed. Her breathing accelerates and her fear increases. He's going to kill her now, she's sure. She doesn't want to die. But then, he does something that surprises everyone in the room but one of them: he turns and sends the made-up stake toward Cass, aiming for her heart. Cass had kind of anticipated this. Elena asked him not to hurt her friends and then hurt him; in exchanged he hurt the friend of her that was closest to him. She twirls around in the last second, avoiding the sharp piece of wood, but it still hurts her. It tears through her sweater and slashes a part of her back but her heart is still intact as ever. She hisses in pain and reaches out to touch the already-healing wound. The sweater is practically ruined.

"This,"—she lifts her sweater with one of her hands.—"was my favorite," she says before blurring over to Elijah and biting into his neck.

Elena gasps out in surprise. After a few seconds, Elijah reaches out and knocks her off of him. Cassandra groans as she hits the floor; that's when the Salvatores finally decide to do something. Stefan starts to go down the stairs, firing little stakes at Elijah as he goes, while Damon flashes to Cass and helps her up.

"What part of don't come here didn't you get?" He asks her, grabbing her by the arm.

She notices Stefan struggling and shakes her head.

"Mind lecturing me later? We're kind of in a situation over here," she tells him.

Damon looks over to his brother and realizes he might be close to losing the fight. Not thinking, he grabs a broken piece of wood from the floor and charges at Elijah, getting him by the back and hitting his heart. He doesn't let go until he makes sure Elijah's skin turns grey. Stefan pushes him off of him and stands up, nodding at his brother, who claps him in the shoulder.

Rose comes out of the hallway, her eyes widen when she notices Elijah's body. Cassandra's eyes are trained on it, too. They need to get out of here, lock themselves in and wait until Elijah's rage dissipates. It might take him centuries, maybe they should turn Elena.

"No, let her go," Elena says from the top of the stairs.

Damon stops in his tracks and turns to look at her. Cass watches as Rose turns into a blur and disappears, she then turns her gaze to the scene developing before her. Elena smiles and Damon thinks the smile is for him, so he starts to smile as well. Not a smirk; he actually starts to form a genuine smile. Then Elena runs down the stairs, he's ecstatic. She is going to hug him; she is running toward him, he's sure. But then Stefan gets in the way and Elena jumps into his arms like the world depends on it. She closes her eyes, enjoying the safety that his arms provide. Damon clears his throat, looking away.

"Thank you," Elena calls to the other two vampires.

Cassandra is angrily looking at her torn sweater but at her words, she looks up. Her back is bloodied and still bleeding a little bit, her face has a thin trail of blood running down her chin and her favorite clothing is completely ruined but, still, she smiles more radiantly than all day. Katherine would've never thanked her and, if she's to be honest, she thinks she did a great job fighting Elijah and making sure not to die today.

"You're welcome, Lena," she says. "Can we leave now?" she asks Stefan, looking around with disgust.

Elena notices how she ignores Damon and wonders what happened yesterday and today for that to happen. Stefan nods and they walk out of the house.

"You broke your promise," he tells her as they all make the long walk to the car.

"I didn't." she shakes her head, a smile tugging at her lips.

Stefan and Elena are walking behind them, clearly enjoying the walk in the countryside but Stefan can hear them clearly. He pretends he can't, mostly for Cass' sake.

"Yes, you did." He insists. "You promised you wouldn't go there."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong," she says, finally allowing the triumphant smile to show. "I promised I wouldn't die permanently, and here I am."

He stops to look at her, pretty much amazed, but she keeps walking. That's when his eyes fall on her back. There's dried blood there but besides from that her skin is as fair as always. Her sweater is ruined, though, and he can almost see her bra.

"What are you doing?" she asks slowly, her smile falling.

"You're practically naked. Don't want you to catch a cold, now do we?" he asks sarcastically as he puts his leather jacket around her.

"Damon, I'm a vampire. I don't catch colds." She laughs.

She laughs so freely, Elena and Stefan look up to see what all the fuzz is about. Damon shakes his head and smiles.

"Fine, but, still, keep it,"—he suddenly turns serious and looks her in the eye. "Please."

"I can't believe you're wining." She laughs.

He shrugs and bets ten more dollars. She frowns at the bill and then at her cards. Yes, accepting his dare of playing strip-poker was_ so_ not a good idea. He's only lost his shirt while she only has her underwear and his leather jacket on. It sucks big time. She _hates_ losing.

"You know what? We're done playing." She states as she throws her cards into the table.

He laughs, throwing his cards down as well. They're at her house, for a chance. He admits the place is beautiful and very different from the Boarding House. Here almost every wall is white and the furniture is very fancy. Light fills the entire house, no matter where you are.

"So, what you wanna do now?" she asks him.

She gets up, ready to go change but he stops her by appearing in front of her.

"We could do this…" his voice fades while he leans in, searching her mouth.

She takes a little breath in and leans her face away, his lips end up meeting her cheek. He frowns and meets her eyes, still not moving away.

"I… I—you're my friend," she says.

"So?" he asks her, a little hurt. "Hasn't bothered you before."

"Yes, but that's because I thought it was base in pure sexual chemistry but now," she pauses, biting her lip and suddenly very aware of her nakedness. Forcing herself to be the emotionless bitch she learned to be since she was twelve, she looks him straight in the eye, pretending not to be affected by his blue eyes.

"You're in love with Elena. Don't lie to me, you proved it today. And I don't like being the rebound. It _sucks_," she finishes.

She takes a step away, giving him a bitter smile. He only stares at her. Shrugging, she starts to walk away before calling after him:

"So, that's why we're doing something else but that."

He frowns but follows her anyways, still trying to come up with a come back. She knows that, he hates that she knows that. But most importantly, he hates that she thinks she's rebound because she's most definitely not. He's still just having some trouble knowing _which_ girl he's actually in love with.


	13. Katerina Petrova

**_Chapter 13: Katerina Petrova._**

**_Bulgaria, 1490._**

_The Petrova household was a disaster of rushing people. Petrov, the head of the_ _house, was standing in the hallway and leaning into the wall, his arms crossed as he heard his daughter give birth to a bastard. That word made his blood boil. His daughter, his only daughter, had disgraced them all by getting pregnant. He would never forget the day the doctor went to the house and told them that what Katerina had was nothing but the symptoms of pregnancy._

_ The closest members of their family were in the house, waiting impatiently. Inside Katerina's room, her mother was the very one who was helping her through labor. The door was opened and servants constantly went in and out, carrying bowls of water and sheets and towels. Katerina let out a cry of pain as yet another contraction hit her. _

_"Mалко повече, скъпи, малко повече," her mother said softly as she looked between her legs._

_Katerina pushed as hard as she could, letting another cry in the process, and wondered when this entire nightmare would end. She had never met pain such as this. She furiously grabbed the sheets around her and leaned in, pushing even harder._

_"Бутане, малко повече." Her mother soothed her. _

_She shook her head. If she had know the pain she would've to go through, she would have never gotten pregnant. With one final push, she finally felt her baby out of her and a baby's cry filled the room. She let out a deep breath, glad that it was all over, and leaned down a bit. Katerina had done it; she had done it and survived it. She had given birth to a baby at only seventeen and out of wedlock. No wonder her father hated her now. She lifted her head slightly to watch her mother. The woman had the baby in her arms and drying the blood away from it. She covered the baby with some towels and cradled it in her arms, amazement in her face. She looked up at her exhausted daughter._

_"Че е момиче," she said._

_Katerina sat up as straight as she could and looked at the little baby girl in her mother's arms. She stretched out one shaky arm._

_"Е момиче?" she asked. _

_A longing for that little creature, the little creature that had been inside her for nine long months, struck her and, suddenly, all she wanted was to hold her once. Only once, before she was taken away from her and given to some stranger._

_"Моля, майка, нека я види." She begged desperately._

_Her mother looked up and met her eyes. She moved so Katerina could see the baby easily. Katerina gasped, that was the most beautiful baby girl she had ever seen and it was hers. All hers. She wanted to hold her, to wipe the small tears away from her beautiful small face. Right when her mother was about to give Katerina her daughter, Petrov entered the room angrily._

_"Жена, не!" he snapped at his wife. _

_He walked toward her and ripped the little girl away from her arms. Katerina watched all this with terror. He was going to take her away; she would never see her daughter again. She struggled to sit up straighter and tried to crawl out of the bed, ignoring how sore her body was and how ripped it felt after the labor. Katerina's eyes welled up with tears as she pleaded to her father not to take her away._

_"Нека я държа само веднъж." She cried. "Само веднъж."_

_They ignored her and she tried to get up. Her mother rushed to her, putting her arms around Katerina and holding her back. Katerina cried harder, one hand still stretched out toward the door where his father had already left with her daughter in his arms._

_"Баща, моля те! Не, отче!" Katerina sobbed._

_"He, Katerina, това е по-добре за нея." Her mother soothed her._

_Katerina was tired and hurt. She knew it was the best for the baby but she didn't care, she wanted her. Didn't they get that? _Couldn't_ they get that?_

_"Майка, моля." She begged to her mother._

_"Пусни я, нека я пусне, Катерина." Her mother protested, hugging her tightly._

_Katerina buried her face in her mother's shoulder and sobbed, shaking her head. _

_"Не, майка, моля те." She whispered. It was barely audible and just like that Katerina Petrova lost her baby girl forever and started to hate her father with a passion she had never felt until then._

**_Present day, Mystic Falls._**

The door opened and Elena Gilbert looks up to meet blue eyes. Damon smirks at her, she does nothing, only looks at him.

"Hello, Elena," he says.

"Is Stefan here?" Elena asks quickly. Then, she frowns, realizing how stupid that sounded, and adds: "He texted me, said it was important."

He takes a step backwards, allowing her in.

"Right this way," he tells her, gesturing to the parlor.

She mutters a 'thank you' under her breathe and rushes to the parlor. He follows after her. There, Stefan, Rose and Cass stand. Stefan moves to Elena the moment she enters the parlor and Damon walks to stand next to the redhead.

"What's this?" Elena demands.

"Lena, why don't you sit down for this?" Cass asks tentatively at her.

Elena sits down and Stefan sits down next to her. Rose shoots one look at Cassandra before glancing at Damon; Cassandra shakes her head and bites her lip. Elena feels the fear start to feel her bloodstream. Something is wrong.

"Okay, you have to understand I only know what I've picked up over the years—what is true and isn't, I don't know. That's the problem with all the vampire crap, but I know Klaus is real." Rose explains, looking at Cassandra at the end so she'll support her.

"Yes, Klaus is definitely real." She nods, staring into space.

"Okay," Elena says. "And Klaus is?"

"One of the Originals," Stefan says when none of the other two women make an attempt to speak.

"Like Elijah?"

"No," Cass answers. "Elijah is like… I don't know, The Easter Bunny compared to Klaus. Klaus is—he's the big deal, the one that makes you hide under your coverts at night."

"Klaus is known to be the oldest." Stefan explains to Elena.

She keeps her face neutral, not really showing if she is or not freaking out. Cassandra figures she might be.

"So… what you're saying is that the oldest vampire in history of time is coming after me?" Elena asks.

Ah, there's the slight tone of hidden desperation Cassandra was expecting. She nods along with Rose.

"Yes!" Rose exclaims, happy that finally someone is taking her seriously.

"No," Damon protests. "If what they're saying is true…"

"Which it is." Rose and Cassandra chorus.

"Then we're looking at a solid maybe." Damon tries to comfort Elena. "And that means you've got nothing to worry about."

"Which she does," Cassandra corrects.

Damon shoots her a look that she ignores. She doesn't understand how hard it can be for them to simply admit that the big bad vampire is after their heads. It is simple enough.

"Look Elijah is dead, right?" Stefan asks a rhetorical question. Cass bites her lip. "So no one else knows that you exist."

"That's not exactly true… I knew she existed before I met her. So maybe word might have gotten around and—"

"Shut up, Cassandra." Damon says in her ear and interrupts her.

"Look I've never met anyone who has laid eyes on him; we're talking about centuries of truth mixed with fiction. We don't know what's real—for all we know he might just be a bedtime story." Stefan reasons.

"He is real!" Cassandra insists, running a hand through her hair. "Look, if you don't believe us then you're idiots. Why the hell do you think Katherine has been running all this years? Do you really think we'd go through all the trouble of faking our deaths for a bedtime story? For someone fake?"

"All right, all right, he's real—we're shaking," Damon says, pure sarcasm lacing his voice.

"I do not appreciate the sarcasm, I'll have you know." She crosses her arms.

"Yeah, well… I got to go to school." Elena mumbles.

She gets up from the couch and grabs her bag. Stefan gets up right after her, ready to follow her.

"I'll go with you," he says.

"Stefan, that's okay… I know where school is."

Stefan stops in his tracks and Elena leaves the house. Rose sends Cass a look but she simply shrugs.

"She's in denial," Damon comments.

Stefan turns to look at his brother before shaking his head. "Shut up, Damon."

Rose sits in one of the chairs, her arms leaning on her legs as she cries silently. Trevor is dead forever; Trevor, her only friend in the world. And now she's all alone. Footsteps make her dry her tears and try to look like she wasn't crying.

"All right, Rose, I need some answers." Damon demands as he enters the room.

He stands in front of Rose, who quickly gets up but avoids eye-contact. She moves over to a little table and grabs a tissue from the box of tissues Cass had left there earlier. Damon rolls his eyes and turns away from her.

"Please don't tell me you're crying because your friend Trevor is dead." He complains.

"You've always been this sensitive?" she asks him instead as she cleans her face.

"Try the vampire switch," he says and makes a sound. "Turn it off and BAM, no emotions." He tells her.

"Yeah, you switch yours, I'll switch mine." Rose smirks.

"What's that?" he asks.

"A mere observation from an outsider. Being in love with your brother's girl must be hard." She comments, ignoring his tone.

"I'm not in love with anyone," he says, moving his arms around.

He's tired of people constantly reminding him of that. Rose scoffs.

"Wanna try that again?"

Damon gets tired of her and flashes toward her, glaring down at her. He's taller than her but not by much and Rose is clearly not intimidated by him. She looks up at him, unfazed; pretty much in the same way Cassie does when she's getting tired of his shit.

"Don't get on my bad side." He threatens.

"Then show me your good side." She retorts.

"I don't have one," he says after looking away from her.

He meets her eyes again and she lifts an eyebrow. Someone clears their throat and they both turn to see Cass has been standing there for a while now, a teasing smile on her face. He rolls her eyes.

"He does have one, it just hardly comes out to show," she tells Rose. Then, her smile drops. "I'm sorry about Trevor, really."

"How do we find Klaus?" Damon asks before the two women can get emotional.

"You don't find him, he finds you." Rose replies cockily.

Damon turns his gaze on Cassandra, she shakes her head.

"I'm sorry, Damon, but she's right. I haven't seen Klaus in… way too long for me to even remember. It's like he disappears and suddenly appears again."

He walks around angrily. "Oh, come on! There's gotta be someone who knows someone who knows somebody who knows Klaus!"

"Add another thousand somebodys to that and you're still not even close," Rose tells him as she sits down once again.

"Humour me," Damon stops pacing and looks at her. "You got in touch with Elijah how?"

"Through a very low somebody." Rose shrugs. Damon looks at her expectantly. "A guy named Slater in Richmond." She gives in.

"Perfect," He says. Turning to Cass, he adds: "I'll drive."

He starts to walk away from the room and Cassandra goes to follow him. she doesn't have a problem with meeting this so-called low somebody.

"No," Rose protests. "You're forgetting not all of us can do sun." she signals to the window and then looks at the other two vampires.

"Fine, then you'll drive." Cass tells her. "Let's go, Rose."

Damon and Cassandra leave, and Rose has nothing else to do but follow. The drive to Richmond is nothing but awkward. Silence surrounds them all the drive over there to the point where Cass considers getting out of the car and walking the remaining distance. But she doesn't and eventually they arrive at a building. Rose drives into the underground parking lot and they park near a staircase.

"Back entrance, how convenient." Damon jokes.

"That's the point. Not all of us have daylight rings." Rose throws back.

"That's true, sometimes we have bracelets or necklaces," Cassandra says in a sing-song voice. Damon chuckles. "Are you sure Slater is here?" she asks Rose.

"I called him. He's here, he's always here." Rose says to her.

Damon and Cass share a look before Cassandra shrugs and walks after Rose. She doesn't get too far, though because Damon flashes over and pushes Rose against the wall. Rose doesn't look too surprised.

"If you're setting us up in any way, I'll rip your heart out and shove it down your throat." He threatens. "Something I'm very good at." He adds cockily.

In a flash, Rose has Damon pinned to the car. He groans.

"Don't forget I'm older and stronger. Don't get on my bad side." She scolds him before letting him go.

Cassandra laughs and shakes her head. "I cannot believe you did that." she laughs.

"Shut up, Cassie." He shoves her a little.

"I mean if you can't take me, what makes you think you can take her, Damon? Sometimes I do believe you're a little cu-cu." She moves one finger around her head in circles. He rolls his eyes but allows her a small smile.

Rose watches the exchange in silence before adding:

"You can trust me."

Both vampires look at her, suddenly realizing that Rose is, in fact, there. Cass nods, knowing that already, but Damon simply straightens his jacket and puts a hand on Cass back, motioning to move forward. He doesn't remove his hand until they enter this café. One of its walls is nothing but window, allowing the light to enter freely into the place.

"Wow, what about the sunlight?" Damon drawls as he gestures around with his finger.

"Double-pained tempered glass. UV rays can't penetrate. See the appeal in that?" Rose asks him as she takes of her jacket.

Cass does the same and sits down in one of the stools in front of them, right in-between Damon and Rose. Damon hums at Rose's question but doesn't answer.

"That and free wi-fi."

A voice reaches them and the three of them look to the right where a guy in his mid-thirties with short light brown hair and blue eyes stands. Rose beams at him, she literally lights up at his presence, and goes to hug him.

"Hey," she says.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Slater asks.

"It's a long story but I want you to meet—" she nods toward Damon and Cassandra.

Slater follows her signal and his eyes widen at the sight in front of them.

"Cassandra Woodhouse, turned in 1498 by Katherine Pierce A.K.A Katerina Petrova, and also the only hybrid in the entire world," he says knowingly.

Damon shoots him a funny look as he furrows his eyebrows, while Cass' own eyebrows almost meet her hairline.

"Yes, nice to meet you, I suppose." She smiles. He smiles back at her before looking over at Damon, who is still giving him a funny look.

"And Damon Salvatore, turned in 1864 by Cassandra Woodhouse." He finishes.

Cassandra fights the urge to yell 'I told you so' at Damon but manages to keep her composure. Slater turns to Rose, a smile still on his face.

"So I take it is true? What I told you about the tomb underneath the church?" Slater asks.

"Yes, everything was true." Rose nods.

"Nice to meet you," Slater offers Damon his hand. Damon glances at Cassandra for a second. She widens her eyes a little, completely freaked out by this more-than-normal euphoric vampire. He takes Slater's hand and shakes it once. "Maybe," Slater adds, looking at Damon carefully.

"What's going on, Rose? Where's Trevor?" Slater asks.

The mood immediately changes. Rose's smile vanishes and Cassandra looks down at her hands; Damon starts to look around. Slater understands the unspoken statement and his happy look turns into a frown. The frown only deepens when they tell him the story. He goes behind the counter to serve them all a cup of coffee.

He hands them a cup each and then motions for them to go to a table where they can talk.

"And you're certain Elijah is dead?" Slater asks.

"Beyond dead." Damon confirms.

Cassandra bites her lip once again but this time she does so hard it bleeds. The guilt of not telling them that Elijah might be already alive is eating her from the inside out. She says nothing, though. they move to a table where a silver laptop is on the table. Cass sits down in front of it, while Damon sits besides her and Rose in front of her. Slater moves the computer away from her but smiles, anyway.

"Trevor was a good man. He helped me with my essay on the sexual deviant on the baroque period for my psychology PhD." Slater explains to Cassandra.

"Slater has been in college since Antebellum." Rose elaborates.

Cassandra giggles and looks at Slater, interested. Damon simply rolls his eyes. Slater continues to talk.

"When I was turned." he explains. "I have 18 degrees, 3 masters and 4 PhDs." Slater tells Cassandra proudly.

"The point?" Damon asks, annoyed.

"Yeah, what is the point? If you have a better idea on how I should spend my eternity, please, enlighten me." Slater shoots back at him.

"Don't be ridiculous, Damon." Cassandra chastises. "I think it's a great way of spending eternity. I, myself, have 6 PhDs and 20 degrees."

"That's incredible." Slater gaps at her.

"Well, I'm older." She jokes.

Rose puts a hand on Slater's hand to get his attention.

"We need your help," she says. "If someone needed to get in touch with Klaus… who do they get in contact with?"

"Craigslist." Slater motions to the computer.

Cassandra can't help but snort at that, although she tries to cover it with a cough. Something everyone knows vampires don't have. Damon sends her a look that clearly says: 'this dude is crazy.' She covers her face by looking to the side so they won't see her trying to contain laughter.

"Seriously; I respond to a personal add who knows somebody who knows somebody who knows Elijah… who is dead." Slater informs them. "And that's when my connection ends."

Well, at least, she now knows she won't have to deal with two originals at the same time but only one. She will not think of the possibility of Klaus already knowing of what's going on in Mystic Falls or the possibility of him wanting her back. Yes, definitely not a good thought. Damon gives Slater a fake smile.

"Here's what I don't get. Elijah was in the house in broad daylight, which means they have a day ring. Why would Klaus want to lift the sun and the moon curse?" Damon asks Slater.

"To keep the werewolves from doing so. If a vampire breaks the curse then the werewolves are stuck with the moon curse forever and viceversa." Slater answers.

"But werewolves are extinct," Rose says.

Cassandra meets Damon's eyes before looking around innocently.

"Well, I've never seen one but rumor has it…" Slater turns to look at Damon and Cassandra.

"Umm, what if I told you it wasn't a rumor?" Cass asks.

"Mystic Falls?" Slater asks. They nod. "Man, I gotta visit that place."

"Can we stop the curse from being broken at all?" Damon asks.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we turn the moonstone useless and make the curse unbreakable." Damon explains with a tone that screams 'duh.'

"Well, probably but…" Slater hesitates.

Rose perks up on her seat at this new piece of information while Cass simply drinks for her cup of now cold coffee. This is useless, she hardly doubts making the moonstone useless is possible.

"Why would you want that happen?" Slater asks Damon.

"Tell me how to do it." he says instead.

Cass knows why he wants to do that and she's pretty sure Rose knows too. Because if they can't break the curse, then Elena won't have to die. And God forbid Elena did such a thing.

"Look you wanna walk in the sun? We can do that for you," Damon offers.

He kicks Cassandra under the table and she sits up, nodding along.

"Yes, of course. I could charm a ring for you." She lies. There's no way she's doing such a thing but Slater doesn't need to know.

"All you have to do is tell us how to make that happen." Damon gives his price.

Slater regards them all. Right when he's about to open his mouth, the entire glass-wall shatters. Everyone in the coffeehouse jumps up and stars to leave, screams surround them. Rose falls to the floor, the sun burning her skin, and starts to scream, trying to cover as much of her skin as she can with her hands. Cassandra turns around to face the street, trying to locate Elijah but he's nowhere to be seen. She's sure this is Elijah's doing, it has to be. Slater runs off but Rose doesn't seem to be able to get up. Damon puts her jacket around her and lifts her up bridal-style. The three of them leave the coffeehouse as fast as they can and make their way to the car. Cassandra opens the back of the car where Damon puts Rose.

"You're going to be okay," He says to her.

"No, I know." she hisses at her burns.

"Who is behind this?" Damon demands.

"Where's Slater?" Rose shakes her head.

"He ran. What do I know?" he snaps at her. Cassandra flinches.

"He's a nice guy, he wouldn't betray me." she shakes her head, looking down.

"Then who would?"

That's when Rose breaks down. She starts to sob, shaking her head and not meeting anyone's gaze.

"It's Klaus! It's Klaus!" she sobs. "Don't you get it? We're dead, we are all dead!"

Cass watches how the seriousness of the situation dawns on Damon. His expression changes completely as he looks at Rose with something very close to sympathy. His eyes then go to her and she shrugs, crossing her arms. Rose is right and there's no point in lying about it. She won't say it's fine because it's not. He closes the door, leaving Rose to calm herself down.

"She's right, isn't she?" he asks her. She silently nods. He takes a step toward her, putting his hand on her shoulder so she'll have to look at him. "Listen to me; he won't hurt you, okay? I won't let him."

She gives him a small sad smile and meets his eyes. That's when he realizes she's not really scared. There's something else there but he's not sure what.

"Don't worry about me. I'm a big girl, you should worry about Elena. I'll be fine." She shrugs.

He frowns at her but before she can say anything, Cass lifts herself on her feet and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you, though." she adds.

"You're welcome." He calls after her.

They get into the car and start to drive home, the pending peril they might soon face hanging above them all.

"I'm sorry about today." Rose tells Damon as she sits next to him in the parlor.

Cassandra had gone to Stefan's room the moment they got to the Boarding House, while Damon retired to the parlor to drink. Eventually, though, the redhead had rushed out of the house, mumbling something about a grimore. Rose stayed in one of the room for half an hour until her guilt dragged her down to the fireplace and here she is.

"I believe you." Damon sighs before taking a gulp from the bottle. Yeah, he abandoned the glass long ago.

"I wish we could save Elena, I know you want to." Rose keeps talking.

"And I will."

She smiles at his stubbornness. He is so much like Trevor in so many ways, same determination, and same fire.

"You remind me of Trevor." She voices her thoughts.

"Why him?"

"Because he always talked a big game but at the end of the day he was the best friend I could ever hope for." Rose elaborates as she grabs a glass and makes her way over to him.

"Yeah, look where that got him." Damon mumbles.

"Yeah, and my loyalty to him almost got me dead too." She nods, looking at Damon expectantly until he gives in and pours the scotch into her glass.

"Here's to friendship." Damon tilts the bottle before taking another gulp. Rose does the same.

"It's okay to fight it, the way you feel about them." Rose says.

Damon's eyes go up to her in a flash. What is it with British women that they always seem to know what's going on with him? First Cassie, now Rose. Rose had seen them today. She thought Damon was in love with Elena but now she's not sure. He definitely feels something for Cassandra as well. They have a connection Damon does not have with Elena.

"Because if you want to survive you need to not care about anyone. Caring is dangerous." Rose continues as she walks back to the table she got the glass from.

"It can get you dead, uh?" Damon asks rhetorically.

"Maybe it's time for you to flip the switch and your emotions." Rose suggests.

"I'll do it if you do it too." He mumbles after some consideration.

They both flash to each other and start kissing. It means nothing to either party, just meaningless kissing and, soon, meaningless sex. Although Damon has to admit, it's not the same as kissing Cassie. Nothing is, no matter how much this British woman reminds him of his Cassie.

"It's a lie, you know, there's no such thing as flipping the switch." Rose says after they're over. "Sure, when you're a newbie but then, after a couple of hundred years, you just have to fake it."

Damon turns to look at her. She's leaning against the couch and looking at him intently. He nods slowly while he looks down. Right when he's about to comment on the topic, Rose's phone starts to ring. Damon moves to take it and hands it over to Rose, who answers immediately.

"_Rose,_" Slater says.

"Slater, I'm sorry for dragging you into this." She apologizes.

_"It's okay. Look, I did some digging, you can destroy the curse but you need the moonstone. Can your friend get the moonstone?" _

Rose looks at Damon, he nods.

"Yes."

_"Good, get the moonstone and find a witch. A witch should be able to know what to do."_

"Okay, thatnk you, Slater." Rose answers truthfully.

_"Good luck, Rose." _

With that the connection ends. Rose looks at the phone before shrugging and putting it on the rug. She looks up at Damon, who wears a frown.

"Well, it seems like Cassie has work to do." She smiles.

"I'll be doing nothing, and do _not_ call me that."

They both whip around to the entrance of the parlor. Cassandra is standing there, her grimore in her arms and has a frown on her face. Rose bites her lip, this is bad.

"Cassie…" Damon starts but one cold look from her silences him.

"I checked both my grimore and my family's and there's nothing regarding the subject. So it seems like the job falls on Bonnie, not me." She tells them, although her cold green eyes remain in Damon.

He tries to get up but seems to remember he's naked and sits down again. "I thought you had left."

"I did. I went home but then felt bad for leaving you alone. Turns out you weren't alone at all." She snaps at him before looking at Rose with a little disgust.

"You don't understand," he says.

"Oh, no, Damon, I understand perfectly. As I say, I'm a grown woman. I'm not the same person you met 145 years ago. I told you I wouldn't be rebound and you found yourself a new one, congratulations." She rants angrily, outside the wind picks up.

She shakes her head, controlling her emotions and taking a deep breath so her magic won't get out of control.

"Good night, Damon." She glares before turning around and starting to walk away.

"Cassandra, wait—"

"I said good night!" her yell echoes through the parlor and seconds later they hear the door close loudly.

Rose flinches and looks at Damon. He's still looking at the spot Cassandra used to be, a frown etched to his face. She can see in his eyes that he's actually hurt.

Cassandra drives out of Mystic Falls and into the closest town with a goal in her mind, only one goal. Rose said you can't turn your emotions after some centuries, well, she's about to fucking prove her wrong. It doesn't matter how many people she drags down with her. She doesn't even care what the name of the town is, she simply enters the first bar she finds and goes straight to the bar.

"Give me the strongest thing you have." She orders the bartender.

"I'm gonna need your I.D." He protests.

"The drink's on me," a stranger says. The bartender nods and moves to make said drink.

Cassandra turns to look at whoever just bought her a drink she easily could have compelled for herself. Sitting next to her is a nice guy who obviously just got out of college, he's nice looking and clearly into her. She can tell by the way he smiles at her. The bartender comes with her drink and she gulps it down in one go.

"Well, someone was thirsty. Do you want me to buy you another one?" the guy asks, flirting.

She plays with the empty glass for a second, wondering if she's really doing this, before looking him straight in the eye.

"No, I want you to pay and accompany me to my car where I'll leave you dry and you won't scream or do anything." She compels him, her voice low enough for only him to hear.

The guy nods and does as she says. They get out of the bar and walk to her car but before they can get in, she pushes him against it and vamps her face out. The guy's eyes widen but he doesn't scream or attempts to move, just like she ordered.

"Shh, don't worry, it won't hurt." She pauses, tilting his head so his neck is more exposed. "Oh, by the way, I'm lying." She adds, before sinking her teeth into the delicate skin of his neck.

She drinks until he's dry just like she promised, before leaving him in a dumpster and driving out of the small town into the next one. When morning comes, she has visited every town and city of the state of Virginia and has dried out at least two citizens in each stop. Sometimes, she'd simply do the compel-drink-erase trick, or the police might get suspicious but others she didn't care at all. In fact the more towns she visited, the less she cared. She gets to Mystic Falls at ten A.M. in the morning with her goal achieved. For the first time in a long time, Cassandra Woodhouse does not care or feel any emotion what-so-ever.


	14. The surrender

**_Chapter 14: The Surrender. _**

Cassandra knocks on the Gilbert household's door. She crosses her arms and sighs as she waits for Elena or whoever to open the door. Finally, the door is opened and Elena gives her a smile.

"Cass, come on in." she smiles, glad to have her friend with her.

The moment both Salvatores appeared in her doorstep, she knew the news wouldn't be good. She needed a friend by her side and immediately thought of Cass, that's why she told them she wouldn't hear a word until Cassandra was present. Surprisingly enough, Damon was a little hesitant about having the redhead over but Elena wouldn't have it.

"Yeah, you called, I came, whatever." She walks past her and toward the kitchen, already bored with this.

Elena follows her to the kitchen with a frown on her face. Well, that was not what she expected.

"Well, hello, boys. What has got your panties in a twist?" She asks them sarcastically as she leans on the counter.

Damon doesn't say anything, patiently waiting for her to explode on him in the least expected moment but she doesn't even look his way. It's like he's not in the room. Stefan looks at his brother and nods, deciding to tell the story. Turns out they went to the tomb and talked to Katherine or something like that, she tried to bargain the moonstone with her freedom and the promise that she'd disappear forever, typical Kat.

"You don't believe her, do you?" Elena asks.

"Of course not, we just want the moonstone." Damon scoffs as if the mere idea of him believing Katherine was a capital felony.

"According to Rose's friend, Slater, the moonstone could be used to destroy the spell that Klaus wants to break." Stefan explains to the two women.

"No spell, no doppelganger sacrifice… ergo, you live," Damon tells Elena with a tone that suggests he just discovered America.

"Yeah, which sounds like a big nasty pile of BS to me but if you want to live in a dream, be my guest," Cassandra says as she checks her recently polished nails.

She hopes she managed to clean all the blood from under them. She scoffs in her mind. Please, she's Cassandra Woodhouse, of course she did. She moves to grab a glass of water.

"How… how do we destroy the curse?" Elena asks once she realizes nobody's trying to question the redhead's odd behavior.

"By releasing it from the moonstone," Stefan says.

"Wait, how do you guys even know this will work?" Elena asks again, running a hand through her hair in a stressed manner.

"Because we have a crafty witch on our side," Damon tells her cockily.

"Who is not me, in case you're wondering." Cassandra adds as she takes a sip from her glass. "I get it you finally followed my advice? How did little Bennet take it?" She asks Damon, her tone of voice bored.

Damon opens his mouth but no words come. She stares at him blankly. Once she realizes Damon's brain is not working correctly today, or ever, she turns to Stefan who quickly gives her the answers she wants.

"She's agreed to do anything we need to do." He nods.

"You do realize Katherine is not just going to hand the moonstone, right?" Elena tells them.

"Well, what he means is that we're planning to pry it from her cold dead hands." Damon grins.

Everyone's eyes go to the redhead in a flash. She blinks at them, her face a cold mask. There's no worry for her caged friend, no protests of not killing her like there was before. Worry starts to brew in everyone's stomach.

"Well, it seems like you guys have it all figured out, congratulations." Cassandra starts to clap at them in pure mockery.

"Except for one thing…" Elena drawls, earning everyone's attention. "I don't want you to do it."

This even makes Cassandra look up. Elena has lost it. She has lost it and no one has realized it until now.

"What?" she asks, momentarily going to her normal self and allowing a small amount of shock into her word.

"Well, what about Klaus?" Elena asked.

"We'll find him." Stefan assured.

"Is that before or after he kills every single person I care about, including the three of you?" Elena demanded, signaling between the two brothers.

"We're just trying to save you, Elena." Stefan insists.

"I know," Elena says. "That's all you've been talking about."

With that, she leaves the room. Cassandra turns to the two vampires, they look at her hopefully, expecting her to open her mouth and save the day but, instead, she simply turns around and leaves the house.

….

Cassandra knocks on Dr. Jonas Martin's door and waits impatiently. How hard can it be for someone to open the door? Humans can be so useless sometimes. Finally, the door is opened and Martin appears in front of her with a frown.

"Yes, how can I help you?" the man says cautiously.

"I am here to speak to your friend Elijah." She explains.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Martin shakes his head, obviously lying.

"And you obviously don't know who I am either. Let's clear something out: I can rip out your throat without even touching you. And I won't even hesitate." She smirks at him.

The man doesn't even blink; he's obviously accustomed to deal with vampires. He takes a step forward but doesn't step out of the threshold.

"Try," he dares her.

She reconsiders him for a minute, focusing hard on his aura. There are many colors mixed together but the predominant is grey and mustard. He's angry, hurt, depressed. She sees her advantage right there.

"I've done my homework. You're married, two kids. I suppose your wife died, and so did your daughter, right? It would be really sad if something were to happen to Luka as well. You would end up all alone," she says slowly, almost mockingly.

"Come in," he says, stepping aside and letting her in.

She regards the small apartment with nothing on her face. She admits it's a relatively small apartment; all the grimores around it, piled all around the living room, makes the place look even smaller.

"Cassandra, I see you've come. I must admit I thought you'd come sooner." Elijah's smooth voice reaches her and she turns.

Elijah is standing near the window, wearing a fancy suit and his hair perfectly combed. She meets his eyes and doesn't flinch like she did last time, she doesn't recoil. He notices the difference between the passionate Cassandra he last met and this carcass. She has turned off her emotions.

"Yes… I got hold up. I get it you killed Slater?" she comments, walking around and passing her hands through the many grimores.

"That was merely collateral damage." He retorts without missing a beat.

She hums in answer and makes her way slowly closer to him. He looks at her cautiously, knowing very well that an emotionless Cassandra is a ticking bomb waiting for the precise moment to explode. Once she's standing right in front of him, she tilts her head to the side in a I'm-confused-would-you-like-to-explain-the-world-t o-me kind of way.

"I don't understand, Elijah. Why haven't you kidnapped Elena yet? She was all alone yesterday, unprotected…" she says as she puts one finger on his chest and starts to play with his tie.

"Do you want me to take your friend?" he asks back, ignoring the effect her touch has on him. He's not that man anymore and he's not stupid enough to become that man again, Cassandra is nothing but an old acquaintance.

"No, I just think it's weird… after all the time you spent chasing Katerina and me, I thought you'd do the same with Elena…" she pauses, looking up at him with fake innocence. Innocence they both know she doesn't posses, probably never has. "Unless… unless you don't want people to know she's alive. You don't want Niklaus to find out the doppelganger is alive…"

He moves out of her way, maneuvering around the many books until he reaches the table. She follows him with her monotonous green eyes. He hates that she discovered his real plan so quickly, but he can always pretend she's wrong.

"Your desperation for information is tangible, it radiates off of you. I can see your methods haven't improved," he informs her.

"A very effective method I learned from Katherine." She shrugs.

"You see that's not quiet true," he says as he sits down.

He remembers her using the same methods to get whatever she wanted back when she was human, now they're just intensified.

"You're right… Katherine just taught me how to master them." She pauses and points at him. "Speaking of… have you seen her yet?"

She curses at herself for the British accent that etches itself to her words. Great Britain, London, Brighton, all of that was part of her humanity. The humanity that had been so difficult for her to le go off, the humanity that had almost resurfaced when she met Damon's eyes that very morning. The humanity she had successfully buried again. But the more time she spent around British people, the more her mind was filled with old memories. Memories she has been trying to erase for 500 years. Shaking her head, she focuses back on what's going on right now.

Elijah inwardly groans at her but keeps his face stoic. She blinks boringly at him, waiting for him to break. It'll eventually happen. She's pushing his buttons, she knows it's only a matter of time and she has plenty of patience. The minutes tick pass as they both look at each other. She starts to get tired of this. Who is she kidding? She doesn't have patience, none at all.

When Elijah finally opens his mouth to talk, Jonas interrupts them and Cass feels like snapping his neck. She was about to get the information she wanted and he took it away.

"I'm ready to do the spell," the man says.

"Very well," Elijah nods before turning to Cassandra. "Will you like to accompany us?"

She walks after him silently.

….

They are sitting on the table, many items that belong to Elena around them.

"How does this work?" Elijah asks, a little hesitant.

"Give me your hand," Martin orders, lifting a dagger.

He splits Elijah's hand open. Cassandra watches with fake boredom. Magic is always interesting; no matter how low her emotions are at the time. He then positions Elijah's hand on Elena's picture and he then lets out his hand for Elijah to take.

"Now take mine," he orders. Elijah does as told. "Close your eyes, relax your mind and focus on the girl."

Cassandra watches as Elijah does as told warily and Jonas starts to go into a trance, chanting in ancient Latin. After a few seconds, both of them open their eyes.

"You saw her?" Martin asks.

"I know exactly where she is." He replies, his eyes flickering to Cassandra before looking back at Martin.

_Well, things are about to get interesting, _She thinks. _About bloody time._

….

She walks out of the apartment, following Elijah. She hates Jonas Martin; she knows if she stays with him longer than necessary, she'll dry him out. And as alluring as fresh blood is, she does not want to do it just yet. The man doesn't even look good.

"In case you're wondering… I won't take her. I just want her to be safe, and away from my brother's knowledge." Elijah provides a small piece of information. The redhead blinks emotionlessly, she already knew that.

"I wasn't wondering but… see you around, Elijah." She waves before flashing out of the building.

….

She's drinking from her new victim, a useless man that had been camping around and wouldn't be missed (at least, not here.), when her phone going off and off again bothered her immensely. She throws the man aside, who tries to get on his feet but is too weak to do so, and answers the call.

"What?" she snaps.

"Cass?" Elena's wavering voice meets her ears and somewhere deep into her mind she gets a flash of worry.

"Yes?" she asks.

The man on the floor tries to drag himself to the house phone on the coffee table, desperately wanting to call 911. She grabs his ankles and pulls forward, the man falling to the floor with a loud thud.

"Stefan's in the tomb… he's in the tomb, Cass, with Katherine and Damon won't let me see him and I can't—I just can't—" her voice breaks and she starts to sob down the phone.

The man manages to sit up and watches her soundlessly. He's handsome and usually that would make her drag his death, make it long and painful. She would sleep with him, toy with him, before terrifying him and enjoy how he tried to escape. But his dark hair and light blue eyes, matched with the glare he's managing to pull out, reminds her of Damon. She gives him a false smile, turning her face back to human.

"Elena, I can't do anything… you know that," she chastises.

"But Cass, please," the girl begs. "I don't know what Damon did to you but please, help me."

She glares at nothing in particular at his name. She's still having trouble with dealing with Damon but she's getting there. Rome wasn't built in a day.

"Hmmh, I'll think about it."

"But—"

"You bored me, now goodbye."

With that she hangs up the phone and puts it on the couch, turning to look at her victim. It occurs to her that she doesn't know his name. She gets closer to him, enjoying the way he squirms.

"What is your name, darling?" she asks.

"Robert Sutton," he says.

She tilts his neck, exposing one ugly bite mark. She grabs his arm then, looking at his untouched wrist.

"Do you have a family, Robert? How old are you?" she moves one finger up and down the vein that's visible on his wrist.

"I'm 25 and no." he shakes his head.

"Oh, well, in that case…"

Her fangs come out and she quickly bites down on his neck again, Robert falls to the floor and she straddles him there, one hand covering his mouth so his shout won't be heard by anyone. She stops for a second, and he looks up at her with pure horror on his blue eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" he whimpers.

"Because I'm hungry and hurt and guilty… and I don't want to hurt anymore. So I chose the easy road." She finds herself explaining as she plays with a strand of his raven-black hair.

"Please don't kill me," Robert begs and she actually falters, a memory filling her mind.

**_Dublin, 1531. _**

_"I'm begging you, please don't kill me," the man said to her._

_She simply glared, her eyes red and her fangs reaching her bottom lip. Her entire chin was full of blood._

_"For the love of God, don't do this. I have a family, a wife. She just gave birth to our fourth child, a baby boy. They depend on me, without me they'll starve." The peasant said._

_A family. That brought the vampire's attention. She had a family once, her most valued treasure. She changed her face back to normal and suddenly found herself with tears in her eyes. _

_"Look at me," she ordered. The man looked her straight in the eye. "You will not remember my face, my voice, my smell, nothing. I will heal you and you will walk out of here without any recollection of tonight's event. You simply got hold up at the tavern with some of your friends." She compelled the man. _

_She bit into her wrist and forced her blood down his mouth. The man swallowed until she retreated her wrist and then started to walk out of the alleyway they were in and into the depth of the clear of stars and moon night. She had watched the man walk away with confusion. That had been the first time since she had been turned that she had showed mercy on someone. Her humanity hadn't shown completely but it was there, begging her to let it in. _

**_Present time._**

"You'll die anyway, Robert. I'll make it quick though," she says before leaning over and snapping his neck in one fluid motion.

She stands up and goes up to her bathroom to clean herself. Once she's done she goes back down, wondering what to do with the body. Deciding that it's damaged enough to resemble an actual animal attack, she drags it from the living room floor toward her car and drives all the way to the woods, as far from her house as she can, and dumps the body in the middle of it. She wonders, as she drives back to her house, how is it possible for her to feel compassion for someone she doesn't know while she feels nothing at all when she's around the people she loves. Something is definitely wrong with her.


	15. The Descent

**_Chapter 15: The Descent._**

Cassandra stares at her reflection in the mirror. She barely recognizes herself. Her skin is flawless, her lips perfectly rosy but that's not what bothers her. It's the new darkness behind her eyes that does. They're not the perfectly clear green they used to be, they're a dark green like a leaf. They reflect the inner darkness that lives within her, always has, and that usually comes out to play when she turns off her emotions. What she said to Alaric months ago was true: they met her in a good year. It's been twenty years since she's seen that darkness behind her own eyes.

Shaking her head and putting her hair in a high ponytail, she leaves the bathroom only to crash into a fit mass of body. She looks up and meets clear blue eyes. Damon. She groans in annoyance and steps aside, trying to walk past him so she can move on with her day. He moves as well.

"Yes?" she asks.

"You are coming with me," he says.

"Why?" she scoffs.

"Someone is hurt and we need your help on the subject." He hesitated.

Yesterday was a full moon, so she smartly stayed inside her house. That didn't mean she doesn't know what happened. Elijah visited Elena and made sure she didn't keep trying to kill herself, she started to negotiate and precious Stefan got out of the tomb. Katherine stayed inside. Pity. And apparently someone had been bitten and was going to die. So sad.

"I don't care."

She pushes him away and starts to walk down the stairs. He follows her. When they reach the door, she rolls her eyes and turns to face him once again.

"Who?" she can't help but ask.

"Rose," he answers after a moment of hesitation.

He waits for the hate to flash through her eyes, for hurt, maybe even twisted delight from knowing the woman who took him away for a few hours is dead, anything really, but is met with empty green. He begs at her with his eyes and she knows that but surprisingly remains impassive, she doesn't feel anything at all.

"And why am I supposed to help?" she asks curiously. That's one thing that never leaves her, no matter how ruthless she turns. Curiosity was, is, and always will be, etched to her persona.

"Listen, I messed up with a wolf, all right? And well she said I was marked or something like that"—he rolls his eyes. She waits impatiently.—"and Rose got bitten, I'm just…"

"Would you look at that? Damon Salvatore feels guilt." She mocks, feigning a gasp. "Alert the media."

After showing that slight sign of emotion, she turns back to having a blank mask. He groans, annoyed. What can he do so she'll go with him? This is ridiculous. He's Damon Salvatore, he doesn't beg. But she's being very much unlike herself as well. Since when does she not care about people?

"Cassie, please. You just have to go, look at the thing and then leave if you want." He negotiates, knowing that calling her that always works.

He almost shoots himself when she doesn't even react.

"You are asking me to examine a very ugly bite?" she asks incredulous. He pauses. Of course that's not what he wants her to do, he also wants her to heal said wound. "I'll give you five minutes." she complies, only because she wants to see if that bitch is really going to die.

….

Elena is already there when they reach the Boarding House. Damon immediately leads her to the living room, where Rose and Elena are talking quietly. Elena gets up when Cassandra enters the room, surprised to see her here. She had begged the redhead to do something about Stefan and she had done nothing, hadn't even visited them. Rose turns to face the two vampires but she won't meet Cassandra's eyes. Apparently she has guilt too.

"Look," Damon says as he moves over to Rose and loosens up her robe, showing a very ugly bite mark. It's full of blood and looks infected; the skin around it is decaying.

Cassandra walks to the couch and looks at the wound closely. Well, this is gross. She reaches out and touches the skin, gagging when a piece of skin leaves with her. It literally looks like the years are catching up to her and she's turning into the decaying corpse she should've become hundreds of years ago. And it's happening fast. She's never seen a werewolf bite, she usually avoids werewolves all-together, and now she has a complete new reason as to why.

"How does it look?" Rose asks, turning her head to try and see the wound.

Cassandra hums, smirking when Damon immediately widens his eyes at her to lie. She covers Rose's shoulder and moves away from the couch, ignoring the question and turning to Elena.

"Where is Stefan?" she asks for the brother she actually wants to see.

Stefan has never had a problem dealing with a non-emotional Cass, at least didn't use to. He embraced it, understood. She wants to know if he'll embrace it now.

"Why? Do you want to apologize for ignoring him when he needed you?" Elena accuses.

"If you're trying to make me feel guilty, don't waste your precious time. Now, answer me." she rolls her eyes.

"He left," Elena pauses. "He wants to bring Isobel back, he thinks she can—"

"I heard enough, now shush."

Elena pulls a face and looks over at Damon, practically yelling at him to do something with her eyes. Cassandra turns to Rose again, considering her.

"Leave me alone with her for a minute," she says, not looking at anyone in particular.

Damon quickly walks away, dragging Elena with him, his eyes never leaving her. She doesn't move. Elena stops him when they're far enough for either of the other two vampires to hear them; of course she doesn't know that, with the amount of blood on Cass' system and her age, she can hear them anywhere in the house.

"What the hell was that?" she asks Damon in a hushed tone.

"That was…" Damon sighs. "She flicked the switch off, at first I wasn't sure but now… well, you've seen her." He shrugs.

Elena honestly sees red for a moment. Why would Cassandra be so selfish as to turn off her emotions when things are going downhill? She thought she was better than this. She knows she's better than this. Then a thought occurs to her.

"What did you do?" she demands.

"What?" Damon exclaims. "Why does everyone keep asking me that? I'm not responsible for her choosing the easy road."

"Yes, you are. What happened the other day? She's been weird ever since—"

"I slept with Rose, okay? And she got upset, _Elena._" Damon interrupted.

That definitely shuts her up. She glares at him, for so long he actually starts to squirm. She can't believe this, how could he do this to her?

"You did _what?_ That's not fair, Damon! No wonder she's did that, you are a horrible—" a clear of a throat stops her from continuing.

"Sorry to interrupt your tête-à-tête about me but your five minutes are up, Damon," Cassandra says, appearing on the hallway. "And I'm not doing babysit tonight, don't let her drink anymore blood. It won't help matters. It'll make it worse."

With that she walks past both of them and leaves, never looking back.

…..

"I hate this," Rose complains as Elena helps her into Damon's bed. "I haven't had a cold in five centuries."

"Then enjoy it, it's almost like a human experience for you." Elena comments as she pulls the covers around Rose.

"We don't get sick, when we die is fast and sudden, definitely not dragged out by illness," Rose explains after allowing Elena a small smile.

"You're not going to die." Elena shakes her head.

"Such a human thing to say," Cassandra suddenly says, appearing next to Elena. The human girl takes a step aside, suddenly very scared of her friend. "Of course she's going to die." She adds bluntly.

"I thought you weren't babysitting." Elena accuses.

Cassandra shrugs as she sits down on Damon's bed. Elena chooses to ignore her; she will not fall into her games. Instead she looks around Damon's room. It's big and has light streaming in from a big window. The bathroom looks big as well and very fancy from what she can see from here. Next to the bedside table is a pile of books, she picks one up and reads the cover: _Gone with the Wind._

"Not what you expected?" Rose asks Elena.

"I didn't know what to expect," Elena puts the book down. "Maybe silk sheets." She jokes, managing to get out a laugh from Rose and even a smile from Cass.

"Why are you giving up?" Rose suddenly asks Elena.

"I'm not giving up." Elena protests.

"Then what do you call your deal with Elijah?" Cass asks her.

"That's me protecting the ones I love." Elena retorts.

"I call it choosing the easy road." Cassandra snaps.

"What do you call your turning off your emotions?"

Cassandra pauses and even Rose tries to sit up a little at this. She calls that protecting a bruised heart but she can't tell Elena that.

"None of your business." She gets up and walks out of the room, deciding she should pick a good book and read for the rest of the day.

"I'm so tired," Rose groans and she falters on her step.

She turns around to see Rose trying to sleep and Elena filling a glass of blood. She rolls her eyes, what part of 'no blood' didn't she get?

"No, wait! Tell them to prepare the horses," Rose says, moving around in the bed.

Her eyes are wide open so she's not dreaming, she's hallucinating. Elena turns to Cassandra, not knowing what to do. She bites her lip. This is it. This is the moment where she either helps Rose and proves to Elena that her emotions are just hidden, not turned off, or she turns her back on her friend and walks out of the scene. _Fuck this,_ she thinks before walking to the bed.

"It's okay, Rose, the horses are already set. You need to rest, though." she tells the sick vampire, voluntarily turning her accent British so Rose will feel like she's home.

"Don't be stupid, Trevor, we'll never make it before the sun." She mumbles, covering her face with a pillow.

Cassandra leans away, hoping that is it. Elena looks at her with a frown on her face and a glass full of blood on her hand. Cass points at the glass and shakes her head; Elena hesitates for a moment before putting the glass in the bedside table. Suddenly Rose sits up straight, so fast Cassandra jumps, and brings her hand to her throat.

"Elena, I need more blood!" she gasps.

"Elena, don't!" Cassandra protests but Elena hands Rose the glass anyways.

Cassandra waits for the inevitable, for Rose to freak out even more because of the blood but, surprisingly, nothing happens for a while. Suddenly, Rose starts to choke and cough up blood. Elena takes a step away while Cass leaves the bed like even being near that tainted blood is enough for her to get sick as well.

"Elena, Elena, most of the blood is hers," Cass says, a little freaked out.

"I know, can you just help me over here please?"

She walks quickly to the bathroom, where Elena is damping a towel to clean the blood. Cassandra grabs another towel and opens the faucet, letting the towel get completely wet. She's stalling, she really doesn't want to go anywhere near Rose. A scream makes her drop the towel and turn around.

"This is your fault, Katerina!" Rose is yelling at Elena, her fangs exposed and eyes frantic.

She pulls her away from Elena but Rose is older and stronger, and slightly crazy, she won't be able to keep her down much longer.

"Rose, it's me, Elena! I'm not Katherine, I'm not!" Elena exclaims, her eyes widened with fear.

After a few moments, Rose's face goes back to normal. Cass lets go off her arms and takes a step aside, carefully.

"Elena, I'm so sorry," she cries. "I don't know what's happening to me."

Cassandra feels a pang of pity for Rose and she curses herself, this was not how she had been planning on turning her emotions again. Seriously, the trigger is this woman? The trigger should be Elena or Stefan or Caroline, hell, even Damon, but no, what triggers her emotions coming back on is the illness of a woman she should hate but, instead, pities.

"Don't be afraid of me, please." Rose keeps crying as Cass slowly leads her back to the bed.

"I'm not," Elena assures her.

Rose lays down on the bed and tries to get comfortable. The other two girls sit down next to her. Rose's face is even paler than before and she looks like she has a fever.

"I'm scared," she admits as she looks up at the two other girls.

"It's fine, I'm right here," Elena soothes her. It doesn't go unnoticed by Cass how she clarifies _she's_ here and leaves Cass out.

"Where's here?" Rose asks, alarmed.

Cassandra sighs, wondering when all this hallucinations are going to stop. She almost looks like someone with Alzheimer, forgetting where she is, who she is with. The wolf venom obviously affects the psyche of the subject, as well as the nervous system. And somehow she's rejecting the blood that enters her system as well as rejecting her own. It's almost like a Cancer patient on treatment. She can't even go into further detail about the wound; the speed at which the wound became infected is worrisome, it looks like a wound that's been uncovered and without treatment for at least five days or more while it's only a few, maybe ten, hours old.

"We're in Damon's room," Elena answers again.

"I wanna go home," Rose whines sadly as she lays down again.

"Tell me about it… your home…" Elena requests as she sits more comfortably on the bed.

"St. Austell," Rose mumbles. Cass perks up, she knows that place. "Thirty kilometers away from London, with fields and trees and horses…"

"I remember," Cass says. Elena turns to look at her with a surprised expression. "It was beautiful, my aunt and uncle would take me and my siblings there once a year when I was little, the trips stopped when I reached seventeen, though."

She doesn't know why she's sharing but her sentence brings a smile out of Rose. That's enough for her, to know that Rose will go and that their slate will be clean. Or as clean as possible.

"When you live for so long everything disappears," Rose says with a sad edge to her voice. "I wish I hadn't waisted it, you know? I wish I hadn't been so scared."

Neither Cassandra nor Elena have an answer for that.

….

Cassandra sits near the chimney, the fire out, and reads one of her most hated books in the entire world: _The Shinning by Stephen King._ She doesn't have anything against the book or the author, really, it's just that she's a 531-year-old vampire and the book actually manages to scare her, no matter how many times she reads it. She was a ripper, for God's sake! And a simple book scares her. The Salvatores' library is huge, she could've picked any other book she wanted but, soon, she realized she had read every single one at least five times (the Salvatores are, apparently, obsessed with classics.) and she had only read _The Shinning _three times. She now remembers why that is.

_The clipping on the next page was so large that it had been folded. Jack unfolded it and gasped harshly. The picture there seemed to leap out at him: the wallpaper had been changed since June of 1966, but he knew that window and the view perfectly well. It was the western exposure of the Presidential Suite. Murder came next. The sitting room wall by the door leading into the bedroom was splashed with blood and what could only be white flecks of brain matter. A blank-faced cop was standing over a corpse hidden by a blanket. Jack stared, fascinated, and then his eyes moved up to the headline. __**GANGLAND-STYLE SHOOTING AT COLORADO HOTEL Reputed Crime Overlord Shot at Mountain Key Club Two Others Dead SIDEWINDER, COLO (UPI)-Forty miles from this sleepy Colorado town, a gangland-style**_—

"Hey, where's Rose?" Elena's voice comes to her ears and she twirls toward her, her fangs showing and the book up as a weapon.

Elena jumps back and backs away so fast, she bumps into the library. Cass lets out a relieved sigh, changing her face back and lowering the book. Elena's heart is going over the normal rate at a worrying pace and she knows she should calm her down but, instead, she starts laughing.

"Oh, my God, your face!" she laughs. Elena relaxes and her heartbeat goes back to normal.

She laughs almost hysterically, she laughs as freely or even more so than when Damon insisted on her using his jacket. She realizes with an unsettling start that this is the first time she's laughed in a week or so, since she turned off her emotions, since she killed Jeffrey Davidson in her car. That makes the laughter stop abruptly and makes Elena worry.

"Cass? Are—are you okay?" she asks hesitantly.

"Oh, God…" she mumbles as she covers her mouth with her hand.

Jeffrey was just out of college, he had his life in front of him and she took that away from him. And that's when the guilt comes, well, it had taken long enough. It usually was the first emotion to appear. This time pity and sympathy made an apparition first, those usually were the last ones, she was hoping guilt would be the last one this time. Those hopes are dead now.

_"Hello?" _Damon's voice brings her back from her reverie.

"Hi… you need to come home. Rose is getting worse and Cass… she's not good, either." Elena turns to face Cassandra with a worried look on her face. Elena has her phone pressed to her ear; she hadn't even noticed her pulling it out.

"_Put her on the phone,"_ he snaps at Elena, who immediately passes the phone to Cass.

"Yes?" she asks, clearing her throat to stop her voice from shaking.

Pain is always the worse, even more so than guilt, and hearing his voice, the cause of her pain, was enough to bring threatening tears to her eyes.

"_Listen to me closely, are you?" _he presses the matter, she manages to hum. "_Elena is freaking out, you know that, and if what little bitch Jules told me is true then Rose is not about to get better. So I need you to turn your emotions off for one more day and help me with this."_

"How am I to help you if I have my emotions turned off?" she asks, finally regaining control of her emotions.

"_I don't know, Cassie. I just need time to find—"_

"No. you need to come home now. Rose has hours, Damon and she's your friend. Elena's scared and I know you think it's easy, but turning your emotions off after five hundred years is not that easy. It'd take me days and even then, the result wasn't exactly long-lived as you can see." She snaps.

Silence meets her at the other end of the line and she starts to get impatient. She's no one's bitch, she's tired of having to do as told. This is the last time Damon Salvatore decides for her. She turned off her emotions because she knew that's what he expected her to do. Because she hoped that would make him realize what he was, is, missing. But from now on, she's taking the lead. She will not let her feeling for this man control her; yes, she admits seeing him again affected her, but she's been able to live without him, she's able to live without him. He's not taking control over her life.

"_Take control of the situation, I'll see you in a few hours."_ He answers before hanging up.

She hands the phone back to Elena, who looks at her carefully. She smiles apologetically at her, hoping Elena will get it. She does and walks forward to hug her friend.

"Are you really back?" Elena asks.

"Yes, I'm sorry, Lena." She nods.

"It's fine," she says, stepping out of the hug. "Maybe you should go home and I'll take care of—"

A loud bang from the basement interrupts Elena and the two of them turn toward the door of the basement. Rose has to be there. Cass nods at Elena reassuringly and opens the door. They walk down the stairs and Cass hisses when the smell of blood reaches her nostrils. They soon find an empty blood bag and Cassandra picks it up, shaking her head. They keep walking until they reach the room where the fridge is. There Rose sits on the floor, desperately swallowing the blood. She's surrounded by emptied blood bags. Cass supposes insatiable hunger is another symptom.

"Rose?" Elena asks.

Rose looks up, her eyes crazed. When they focus on Elena, her expression turns to one of anger and she lunges forward. Cassandra reacts quicker than last time and throws Rose out of the way. Elena doesn't even wait for a second, she takes off running. Rose tries to go after her but Cassandra doesn't let her, she pins her to the wall, her face vamping out.

"Snap out of it, Rose!" she orders, getting angry herself.

But she forgets one small detail: Rose might be sick, but she's still older and stronger. With one push, Cassandra goes flying to the other wall and Rose is flashing to the upper floor. Cass groans and massages her head; Elena is up at Stefan's room, safe. There's no need for her to rush. They still have a few hours of daylight, so Rose won't be able to freak on Elena again.

She gets up and walks up to the living room, opening every drape there is on her way. The more light there is, the more she can control Rose. She finds her again, leaning on Stefan's door and coughing up more blood. She cringes and takes a step forward.

"Rose? Come on, let's go downstairs." Cassandra negotiates.

"I got blood on the carpet," Rose says.

"That's fine, I'll clean it later." Cass takes her arm, glad when Rose doesn't try to rip it off its socket. They slowly make their way downstairs and to the parlor.

….

The sun is down and Elena hasn't heard any sound from downstairs in a while. She gets up, shaking, and moves the drawers away from the door. She opens it and starts to go downstairs slowly and carefully. She rushes, though, when she hears a painful groan and some trashing. She runs into the parlor only to find Cass with a makeshift stake on her stomach and an angry look on her face.

"Oh, God, what happened?" Elena asks, alarmed.

"The…" she groans as she starts to get the piece of wood out. "Bitch staked me and ran." She shivers as she dumps the piece of wound on the floor, glad to know no splinters are left behind on her skin.

"What the hell happened here?" another voice says.

Elena and Cass turn to the opened door to see Damon has finally decided to show up. She has to admit the place is quite a mess, but it's not her fault. Rose went crazy, she wanted blood, and there wasn't any left. She tried to leave but Cass wouldn't allow it, Rose turned against her and they started to fight. Cassandra had had the upper hand until Rose broke a chair and drew the piece of wood through her stomach. Seriously, for a house full of vampires, this place has way too much wood.

"Your new girlfriend tried to kill me after she almost ate Elena," Cass says, frowning down at the stain of blood on her shirt. She needs to stop wearing expensive clothes, if they're going to get all bloodied.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

At first Cassandra doesn't answer, believing the question is directed to Elena, and goes to pick up _The Shinning_ from the floor. But when Elena doesn't answer, she looks up to find Damon's eyes are on her.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine." She answers truthfully.

Damon frowns but says nothing. Then, as he looks around, he realizes Rose is missing.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know, she simply took off." Cass shakes her head, biting her lip.

The three of them look at each other before sighing and walking out of the threshold, well, it seems like this day is not over yet.

….

"This school has way too many parties." Cassandra comments as Damon and she walk through the mob of students.

Rose killed a guy and the Sheriff freaked, sending everyone home early. Damon and Cassandra stayed, trying to find Rose, while leaving Elena back at the Boarding House. Damon hums as they finally get to a clear part of the parking lot, he doesn't say anything. This woman is giving him a headache. This morning she was an emotionless carcass of a wonderful woman, and now, she's weird. She's not back to normal but she's not emotionless, either.

"She's over there," he suddenly says, picking up a weird sound.

They make their way quickly to the part of the parking lot he's signaling. There Rose is biting a blonde's neck, who is already too weak to scream. At the front of the car is another body.

"Stop!" Damon yells at her. That's a bad move. Rose feels threaten and tries to flee. Damon tackles her to the floor and she starts to trash around. "Rose, Rose, it's me! it's Damon!"

Something clicks in Rose's mind and she calms down. Her eyes go to the blonde on the floor and she suddenly looks horrified.

"Did I do that?" Rose asks.

She's met by silence and that makes her cry. She shakes her head as she cries louder, Cassandra looks down, not knowing how to react. She thinks Rose should take responsibility for her actions and stop crying, but she feels like that's a little too rough on her part.

"I've never wanted to kill anyone, I'm sorry." She cries.

"I know, it's okay," Damon soothes her.

Rose then realizes Cassandra is there as well. The two women meet eyes, Rose's fly to Damon for a second before going back to Cass. Cassandra nods, understanding the message loud and clear but Rose has the need to voice it.

"I'm sorry, Cassandra," she manages to say without crying.

"Apology accepted." She answers.

"Let's go home, come on." Damon urges, trying to get Rose to get up.

"I don't have a home," she then stops, her expression turning into on of pain as she started to scream. "No, make it stop, please, make it stop!"

Damon gathers her in his arms and carries her out of the scene as soon as possible and before anyone else could see what was going on there.

…

Rose lays on Damon's bed, sweat covers her forehead and she's incredibly pale. Damon is looking outside the window, avoiding the unavoidable, while Cass sits next to Rose, whose head still hurts.

"Let me try something, all right?"

Rose nods. Cassandra reaches out and touches Rose's temple, she focuses hard for a few seconds before taking her hand away. Rose's face immediately relaxes as the pain goes away.

"Thank you… why are you so nice to me?" Rose asks weakly.

"Why wouldn't I be? And don't answer, it's a rhetorical question." She smiles, knowing full well that Damon's attention is now on her. "You remind me of my sister, in a way." She admits.

And it's true. Something about Rose had always bothered her a little but she was never able to know what, then she turned her emotions off and it didn't matter anymore. But now she realizes the older vampire reminds her of Anastasia way too much for her to be comfortable. Anastasia got scared easily, she cried when she felt like she couldn't handle the situation, she had a tendency of taking what Cassandra wanted, much like Rose. Of course, Anastasia died at 18, whereas, Rose will die at God-knows-how-many years old.

"I'm sorry." Rose repeated.

"I told you you're already forgiven, Rose, really. You shouldn't even be apologizing." Cassandra insists, right as Elena shyly enters the room.

"You shouldn't be here," Damon tells her as he walks to the bed and sits next to Cass.

Elena chooses to say nothing, instead, she looks at Rose worryingly. Cass nudges Damon and gets up, leaving the room. He comes with her reluctantly.

"So… how come you take her headache away and not cure her?" he demands as soon as the door is closed.

"I didn't take the headache away, I gave her the illusion that she was painless." She explains, rolling her eyes at the accusatory tone. "You know… maybe you should go through with what Jules told you."

Damon looks away and clenches his jaw, avoiding eye contact with the redhead. She's right, if he doesn't stake her, she'll only suffer more. He doesn't want to do this, Rose is a good friend, he'd like to get to know her better.

"Damon? She wants to go home, that's all she's been talking about all day," she says.

"Yeah, well, I can't do that." he retorts, still not wanting to meet her eyes. He's not sure of what he'll see there. Will it be the clear green that's always haunted him or will it be the dark dead green that, he's ashamed to admit, scared him?

"No, but you could show it to her one last time," she says and this time he actually looks her in the eye to make sure she's serious. "I know how it is, where it is. I can show it to you if you want."

He nods slowly and with that, she enters his mind and shows him Rose's home. She doesn't really care if she's showing it to him through her memories, or if he'll ask about said memories later. She just wants to allow Damon and Rose the perfect goodbye.

_**A/N: so, hey. I'm not quite sure about this one, guys, but it had to be posted. don't worry, Cass is not going to be the saint she's been before but I couldn't have her turn her emotions off for so long. as for Elijah and Klaus, there'll be some action soon. I'm actually excited about their story. that's it, I guess. enjoy it, follow it, recomend it to your friends, review it,**_

_**love, me. **_


	16. Daddy's home

**_Chapter 16: Daddy's Home._**

"You killed them all?" Stefan asks as he enters the Boarding House living room.

Cassandra never left last night, she ended up crashing at one of the spare rooms of the house. When the sun came up, she went downstairs to finish _The Shinning_.

"Nope, I suppose one of the campers is mine but I don't know about the rest," she answers, remembering about Robert.

"So, Damon did it?" he presses.

She puts the book down and looks up at her friend. He's leaning into the couch, his eyebrows raised in a curious manner as he looks expectantly at her.

"I don't think so…" she says slowly, knowing it's only half the truth.

"Cassandra," Stefan warns.

She sits up so she's facing him and fights a smile. How is it possible for him to read her so well? It's not fair.

"Okay, he might or might not have gone out last night to hunt… I think he's the one who killed Jessica but the other girl and the two men are Rose's," she explains, smiling at his amused expression. "Oh, and the campers and ranger? I'm pretty sure those are Jules. It came to me in a dream." She sings.

He chuckles at her and she laughs. Her phone then goes off and she takes it from the coffee table. _Freaking out, come home NOW. _She frowns at the screen but gets up anyway, texting Elena a 'on my way' back.

"Well, I'm leaving and I'm taking _The Great Gatsby_ with me. Don't worry, I'll bring it back. Oh, and we should definitely go out to a library one of these days; you people need to upgrade your library," she states as she waves goodbye to Stefan.

"Good morning, Damon," she says as she passes him in the hallway.

He frowns at her as he watches her leave; she doesn't even spare him a second glance. Definitely very unlike her. He looks back at his brother, who is fighting off laughter at the expression on his older brother's face.

….

"Wait, wait, wait. Stop and rewind, please." Cassandra holds up a hand so Elena can pause on her speech and, well, breathe. "He brought John back? Is he insane? That's his huge 'let's save Elena' plan? You're father who doesn't even deserve the tile?" she asks, shocked.

Elena slowly nods, an exasperated expression covering her features. Cassandra sits back and lets out a breath.

"And here I was thinking Stefan was the smart brother," she says.

"There's more," Elena continues as she sits down next to the redhead.

"There is?" she asks, perplexed. _What in God's name?_

Elena nods before staring to explain how John told Jenna he's Elena's father before simply leaving to who-knows-where. Cassandra listens silently, nodding and shaking her head in all the right places. Stefan messed up big time over here. This is all going to go wrong. A knock on the door makes Elena falter on her speech. She gets up and opens the door.

"Damon," she says, letting the vampire in.

Cass looks over her shoulder at the two other people in the house; Damon meets her eyes for a second before focusing back on Elena.

"What's wrong?" she asks him.

"Stefan told me about your father being in town," he comments conversationally.

"And I'm assuming you have a plan." Elena answers him.

"Yeah, we kill him." he smirks at her.

Cassandra quickly walks over to them, an interested look on her face. Well, there's a plan she likes.

"We are killing him? Can I have a bite, please?" she asks, standing next to Elena.

"No!" Elena exclaims. "What's wrong with you, Cass? We are not killing him."

The vampire looks down in mock guilt. She doesn't really feel bad, she hates John, they're all better off without him. People just don't seem to understand killing someone is sometime the best option. Nobody wants to support iuspositivism anymore these days.

"We're not killing him; I'm the good guy now." Damon almost reprimands her. Well, that's new.

"You are the good guy? Okay. What does that even mean?" she asks, crossing her arms and looking up at him defiantly.

"It means I'm going to have a civil conversation with Elena's father." He shrugs, before glancing at Elena one last time and moving to the door.

Elena and Cass share a look before both girls hurry to grab their coats and go after Damon, Elena yelling a: "We're coming with you!" before closing the door behind them.

…

The three of them enter the Mystic Grill like they're in some kind of bad action movie, furrowed faces, and dark aura. People even turn to look at them with interest. They don't care, though. The three of them search the Grill intensely until they find John Gilbert. Damon immediately takes a step forward but Elena gets in the way.

"Don't do anything stupid." She warns.

"But stupid is so much fun!" Damon whines.

"Damon…" Elena warns.

"Fine, I won't. Happy?" everyone can hear the sarcasm.

"Fine, let's go mingle, Lena." Cassandra takes Elena's hands and leads her toward a table full of their schoolmates.

…

"Amy, don't be mean!" Cass laughs.

"But it is true; Elena, tell her. Isn't it right that Colby has a crush on her?" Amy presses the matter, looking at Elena for support.

"Mmm, yes." Elena admits, taking a sip from her coke. "But he's kind of nerdy."

The table's members laugh again at that statement, but neither Cass nor Elena's focus is on this conversation anymore.

"So my friend wants to meet you," Jenna's voice reach their ears and they both turn slightly toward the bar, Cassandra's ears catching the conversation much better than Elena's. "Damon Salvatore, this is…"

"I know you, you were in the news." Damon interrupts.

Cass looks over at the bar out of the corner of her eye. She can't help herself, she might not allow Damon to control her but that does not mean her feelings for him have evaporated. She's slightly jealous. The woman is pretty, in a way, although Cass knows she's much prettier than this woman. She has dirty blonde hair, pretty smile, she's tall and skinny.

"Yeah, Andy Star. It's nice to meet you." Andy smiles. "Can I buy you a drink, Damon?"

"My glass is already full, Andy." He lifts up his glass before getting up and leaving.

Elena and Cass look at him agape as he makes his way over to their table. He meets her eyes, glad to find clear green not dark, and tries to walk away but she stops him.

"You totally blew her off," she points out, a little disbelieving.

"Yeah, well… my glass _is_ already full." He shrugs. Then, almost as a second thought, he reaches out and pulls a loose strand of her hair behind her ear before walking away. Cassandra frowns after him. That's weird.

"But you didn't need to be so rude!" Elena calls after him, noticing Andy's disappointed expression and Cass' close to freaking out one. Damon only shrugs.

"Stefan, hey," Cass answers the phone at the second ring. "What?" she asks, suddenly alarmed.

…

"Why am I finding out about this now?" Damon demands, all tenderness toward her before now long gone.

"I don't know! I didn't even know Stefan was with Tyler or that he knew about us," she hisses at him, still a little worked up about Stefan's news.

Apparently, Jules had kidnapped Caroline so they could use her as leverage for Stefan to allow Tyler to leave and also so they could get revenge because they killed Mason.

"I don't get this. Aren't you and Stefan supposed to be all BFF and bonding over books?" Damon asks, flinching when he notices a little jealousy in his words.

The world is not fair. Her entire focus used to be on him, he liked it that way, even if he wasn't even sure if he wanted her or Elena. When she turned her emotions back, he hoped things would go back to that. But now she'd rather spend time with Stefan and Elena than him. That's not part of Damon's plans. She's supposed to want to be with him.

"What? No! I still don't understand why he wouldn't tell anyone…" she trails off, slowly turning to face Elena.

The brunette stands next to one of the bathroom stalls, her arms crossed and looking like she wants to be swallowed by the earth.

"Elena… did you know about this?" Cassandra asks her carefully.

"Yes," she admits, the guilty oozing out of her in waves. "But we didn't want to tell you because we were scared that you might want—"

"What? That we might want to kill him? Of course, it what's needed." Damon interrupts Elena, making her jump slightly.

"No, we can't kill Tyler," Elena gasps. Damon starts to pace around the small space between the sink and the wall again.

"Why not? He's a jackass." Cass snaps, crossing her arms across her chest. She and Damon share a look as a common thought crosses their minds.

"No, no, no," Elena shakes her head, knowing very well what that look means. "Forget Tyler, you have to focus on bringing Caroline back."

"No, Blondie got herself into this when she decided to be nice to a dog." He denies.

"Damon, please. She's my friend; so many people have already died." Elena whines, almost close to tears.

Cassandra bites her lip and starts to pace as well. It seems like there's a lot of pacing in this room. She wants Tyler gone. Well, not Tyler in particular but all the wolves. She hates them and she's got to admit that after seeing the result of a wolf-bite she's actually scared of them a bit. If they go, they might be risking their lives. Caroline could take one for the team, right? She cringes at the thought. No, Caroline shouldn't take one for the team, especially because she shouldn't even be part of the team, and because she's their friend. Friends protect friends.

"Damon, we can't do this to her. She's in this mess because of us. You gave her your blood and I stopped you from killing her the first time." She speaks up, stopping and turning to face him. And just like that, Elena blends into the background once again. He tries to glare at her and slightly succeeds but she's not backing away. "We owe it to her." She finishes.

"No, we don't." he shakes his head.

"Fine; you know in that awful place is a girl who knows her friends know where she is, who knows they're capable of a lot and who hopes they'll go for her. Are you really going to let her down that way? I thought you said you were the good guy now." She rants, slightly angry.

"She got into that mess herself, she needs to learn how to get out without anyone's help." He retorts without a moment of hesitation. Elena watches hopefully, having a feeling that the redheaded is the only one able to break Damon.

Cassandra tries to run a hand through her hair but it gets stuck in her ponytail, she tugs at it impatiently until it falls down, letting her hair free. This is stressful. Rose was one thing, she met her for three days and hated her the first day, and she didn't care one bit about her death. But she's known Caroline for quite a while now, she's her friend and she doesn't want her to die. She doesn't care about Tyler or about the wolves but Caroline matters to everyone, even Damon, even if he doesn't want to admit it.

"Okay… what if—what if it was me in the middle of the woods, being tortured? Would you leave me there to die alone?" she asks. She's playing a tricky card here but it's all she's got left, really.

"It isn't." he exclaims impatiently.

"Would you?" she repeats, her voice stern.

The silence that falls around them is nor awkward nor comfortable. Elena tries to keep a smile out of her face but the ends of her lips are staring to squirm so she looks back to the stalls, covering her face. She knew it; she knew Cass would be able to break him. He looks around before locking eyes with her again. No, of course he wouldn't do that. He'd rush to wherever she was and save her, he wouldn't even think twice. Right when he's about to open his mouth to speak, the door opens and their moment is interrupted by John Gilbert. Cass groans.

"What's going on?" he demands.

"Nothing!" Elena exclaims, tired of having to deal with her father.

"It doesn't sound like nothing," John says, trying to get them to tell him something.

"You know what, John? Trust works both ways, so get out." Damon snaps at him, desperately wanting him to leave so he can talk to Cass alone.

"We need to get Caroline back!" Elena exclaims.

"No," Damon shakes his head before turning to John. "First dad duty: ground your daughter. Keep her here, don't let her sneak out."

"Damon—"

"You and I are going to find Caroline," he adds to Cassandra, taking her hand and completely ignoring Elena's complains.

…

Stefan and Tyler arrive at the clearing Jules said, she's standing outside and RV, with her arms crossed and trying to look defiant.

"I know you're out there." She calls out to them.

Stefan and Tyler appear out of the trees and Jules takes a step forward.

"Where's Caroline?" Stefan asks calmly.

"Locked up tight," Jules comments.

"Let her go and I'll release Tyler," Stefan negotiates, not letting go off of Tyler's arm.

A few trees away, Damon and Cassandra stand. Cassandra tapping her foot impatiently and a little anxiously.

"It doesn't have to get any messier than it already has," Stefan continues. "I'm not your enemy, Jules."

"It's a little late to be waving a white flag, don't you think?" Jules demands, her anger starting to show.

"Nobody else needs to get hurt, let her go." Stefan presses the matter.

"I'm not leaving without Tyler," Jules says, delivering every word like it's a knife and she wishes they could cut.

"He's free to make his own decisions." Stefan shrugs. "As long as you release Caroline."

"My brother the peacemaker," Damon cuts in, walking into the clearing as well. Cassandra curses under her breath before following him and standing beside him. "I was simply going to let him try his way, before doing my way, which is a lot bloodier." He explains.

"So give us Caroline," Cassandra says, glaring at Jules.

"Give us Tyler." She spats at the redhead.

"It's not a full moon, you don't stand a chance. We'll take you." Damon threatens.

Jules doesn't even flinch. This woman is stressing.

"I'm not so sure about that, tough guy." She informs them before bringing her fingers to her lips and whistling loudly.

Many werewolves started to come out of the woods, the three vampires were greatly outnumbered. The wolves carried wooden stakes, torches, and guns with wooden bullets.

"Oh, shit." Cass mumbles.

"Still think this is a good idea?" Damon whispers in her ear.

"Oh, shut up." She snaps, a little angry at knowing he's right.

"Let's try this again," Jules starts. "Give us Tyler."

"You heard her, go," Damon tells Tyler, signaling at him to move with his head.

"Which one of you killed Mason?" one of the guys asks once Tyler is safely next to Jules.

"That'd be me," Damon says as he raises a hand.

"Boys, make sure that one suffers."

That's when everything goes to hell. Damon flashes to Jules but she does some weird wolf trick, somersaulting toward the RV and pushing herself over Damon, landing safely on the other side of the woods. That's weird. Three wolves run to Stefan but he grabs the one with the torch by the neck and forces him to use the fire against the other two. Before the other wolf has time to reach Cass, she's turning around and tearing his heart out. The man succumbs to the ground.

"And that's how it's done," she says when she notices Damon pull the same trick in another werewolf.

Stefan breaks the man's neck and dumps him, before turning to see who's next. Another werewolf with a crossbow aims at him but he catches the stake before it can puncture his skin. He uses the stake to stab another man. Cass flashes to stand behind the man with the crossbow and breaks his neck before he can do anything. A grunt makes her turn around. Stefan is on the floor, another wolf standing above him with a bloodied stake on his hand.

"Man, how many of them are there?" she mutters in annoyance.

In that moment, Caroline rushes out of the RV but Jules slams her against the vehicle and puts a gun to her chest. Stefan is still on the floor a Damon is fighting with the same man who said he had to suffer. The odds are not on his favor.

"That's enough," she says out loud before lifting her hands and focusing very hard.

She's not supposed to do magic but if she doesn't they're dead. All the wolves immediately grab their heads, letting out cries of pain as her power reaches them. She doesn't stop until they're unconscious. Then she stops, not letting her anger at this people get the best of her and feeling slightly proud of herself for being able to control her magic.

After that she turns to Tyler and grabs him by his short hair. "Listen to me, the moment your stupid pack, or well, what's left of it, wakes up you're going to pack up and leave this place, you hear me?" she demands, pulling harder on his hair.

"This is _our_ territory, and you better not be here in the morning. Because this time you dealt with Stefan but I am not as forgiving and unless you want a painful and slow death, you'll leave to another place. Is that clear?" she asks, Tyler only nods. "I asked you a question, I want you to answer."

"Yes," Tyler says, scared out of his skin.

"Good." she smiles before slamming him against the RV and leaving him there.

Stefan and Damon slowly get up, Damon fixing his jacket in the process, and walk toward her. Caroline can only stare at her. She ignores them and starts to walk away.

"Come on, let's go home." She calls over her shoulder. The three vampires rush after them.

…

"I wanted to apologize for… neglecting our friendship," Cass says as she and Stefan take Caroline home.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I understand." Caroline dismisses the comment like it's nothing. She nods, hoping it's true.

"Do you want us to come in?" Stefan asks as Caroline enters her home.

"No, really Stefan, I'm fine. I'm not little-girl-Caroline anymore. I'm fine," she says, smiling at Stefan and Cass.

"I do want to shower, though, so…" Caroline points inside and they get the hint.

"All right, good night, Caroline." Cassandra waves as she and Stefan walk to the car.

"She's lying." He states.

"Yes," Cassandra nods, relaxing back into the soft material of the seat. "But you couldn't expect her to show weakness in front of us… me… she doesn't trust us that much yet."

They keep driving in comfortable silence, neither of them knowing what to say but not caring about the silence. Finally, Stefan stops at a red light and turns to her.

"You staying over tonight?" he asks her.

Cassandra bites her lip, considering the idea. She hates her house; it's beautiful but incredibly lonely. She wants to keep talking with Stefan but she has a feeling he's going to go over to Elena's, and Damon won't be exactly happy tonight. He almost got killed because of her.

"No, I'm going to my house," She finally says.

"Okay, then." he answers her, switching lines so he can drop her off.

…

Damon kisses Andy's jaw almost adoringly and she smiles. This bath is definitely nice, yes, very nice.

"I can't believe you called me," Andy sighs. "I thought I was being too forward when I had Jenna give you my number." She leans back to face Damon.

Of course she was being too forward, but she doesn't need to know that. That and the fact that he's really not that into her.

"I like a woman who knows what she wants," Damon purrs at her.

"Mmm, thank you." She hums, playing with some of the bubbles on his body. "So what do you want, Mr. tall-dark-and-handsome?"

"I'm not that tall," he corrects teasingly.

She smirks. He gives her a kiss on the corner of her mouth and she laughs lightly, not being able to stop herself. They separate from each other and sit back on opposites sides of the bathtub, Andy arranging the bubbles so they cover her body.

"I need a distraction." Damon mutters, staring into space.

"Baby, you can call me anytime you want." Andy shakes her head.

"See the thing is, miss sexy-reporter girl," Damon starts as he leans out of the tub to grab his glass of wine. Andy giggles at the term sexy. "I have a problem I need solved and it's really messing with my mind." He finishes, ready to confess.

"Tell me about it," Andy says, pouting slightly.

He hesitates for a moment. "I'm in love with a woman I could never have."

He takes a sip of the glass as Andy sighs and takes the glass from him, sitting back on the tub. "I knew it. I know how to pick them. So what is it? Is she with someone else?" she asks.

"No, but that's not the point." He retorts, snatching his glass back. "The point is… I had my chance, I blew it—usually, that wouldn't matter but she messes with my head and she's changed, I don't know." He frowns.

"She's changed? Maybe she's tired of waiting around for you." Andy corrects, a little amused. "I still don't understand why you can't have her, though."

"I don't deserve her. I do bad things, Andy." He mumbles, troubled.

"Ooh!" Andy mocks with a scary tone.

"I kill people," he says before his brain can register what's leaving his mouth. Andy's amusement disappears and he sits up, reaching for her arm. She squirms, scared. "No, no, don't be scared. Calm down." He compels her.

"Why do you kill people?" Andy asks, a sad tone edged to her voice.

"Because I like it, it's in my nature, it's who I am. And she makes me do things that are not in my nature. I don't worry, I don't get flustered. That's such a human thing to do." He whines.

"But love does that, it changes us, Damon." Andy explains.

He falls silent, suddenly not so happy at how this conversation turned out. Then, he brings her to him.

"Don't talk, please." He commands before kissing her.

He makes his way down her jaw toward her neck where he slowly but sure sinks his teeth into her, she tries to get away but he's stronger than her so she finally succumbs to him, the blood slipping down her back and tainting the water a vibrant red.

_**A/N: okay, guys, here's a new chapter. I hope you like it. I have kind of bad news, I'll be leaving on vacation and won't be back until August 2 so no posting until then. sorry, although I promise I'll try to write as fast as I can once I'm back so I can give you a new chapter. love you, xoxo,**_

_**me.**_


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